ASTANA. Aug 21 (Interfax-Kazakhstan) - Kazakh Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev is likely to conduct an official visit to the United States this fall.
Altynbayev and General Tommy Franks, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Central Command, discussed the visit in Astana on Wednesday.
Altynbayev said that he and Franks agreed that "a larger number of Kazakh servicemen will undergo training in the United States starting in 2003. The selection of candidates is underway."
He added that Kazakh-U.S. military ties under NATO programs were addressed.
Possible purchases of U.S. weapons by Kazakhstan were discussed, he said. Other topics for discussion included regional security, reinforcing the infrastructure in Kazakhstan's western military district and developing its mobile forces.