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In taking his case to Washington, Mr. Aliyev has variously sought safe passage to the United States, help in
recovering $2 billion that relatives claimed they lost from seized businesses, or at least the satisfaction of
embarrassing Mr. Nazarbayev. For his part, the Kazakh leader wants to make sure that the Americans stay out
of the dispute, and not allow it to affect their alliance with his government.
The Obama administration has done just that. Through comments in secret diplomatic cables, the former
ambassador to Kazakhstan made clear his wariness of being drawn in.
“Both sides — the government and Aliyev — seek to manipulate us to their own advantage,” Richard E.
Hoagland, who ended his term as United States ambassador early this year, wrote in February 2009 in one of
more than a dozen State Department cables obtained by the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks that mentioned the
dispute. [*]
Mr. Nazarbayev, 70, [*]a former steel worker and Soviet-era Communist Party leader, has been in power for
two decades, presiding over Central Asia’s most vibrant economy. Human rights activists, however, have
long accused him of persecuting dissidents and political opponents.
Mr. Aliyev, 48, [*]has served as chief of the tax police, deputy foreign affairs minister and head of the
Kazakh equivalent of the K.G.B. But critics say he used his clout to secretly take over private companies for
financial gain, often by threatening violence.
Now hiding somewhere in Europe, he has been convicted back home on what he claims are trumped-up
criminal charges, including a coup attempt. His wife divorced him in June 2007, and the Kazakh government
has taken businesses owned by him and members of his extended family. [*]
No longer powerful at home, Mr. Aliyev turned to Washington, knowing that his former father-in-law cared
greatly about his reputation there.
Early in 2008 he hired RJI Government Stra 5, a sroup whose consultants
included Tanya Rahall, sister of Representative Nick J. ul m4 a : West reemve Democrat; and a friend of
Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California. Both congressmen were booked on a trip to Kazakhstan
to discuss energy policy with Mr. Nazarbayev.
Before their departure, members 0 A urge him to express strong concerns about the
harm done to a relative of Mr. Aliyev named Devincci Hourani, whose oil-company assets in Kazakhstan
were seized, according to a letter to Mr. Issa from RJI.
Mr. Issa, who had developed a rapport with the Kazakh president on an earlier visit, nonetheless agreed to
take up the plight of Mr. Hourani. Though he stepped into the fight, he still maintained a close connection to
the president, nominating him that summer for the Nobel Prize, a move that drew ridicule from human rights
activists. aces right, of Vista, CA] [*]
NY vorked ¢ of sv and later for Mr. Hourani through 2010, contacting the offices of
at least +0 dozen members af Congress. They included Representative Howard L. Berman, Democrat of
California, then chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, whose office said he discussed the dispute
with the State Department.
Ms. Rahall also pursued a second strategy. “The alternative is to embarrass the existing regime,” she wrote in
a July 2008 e-mail to her boss.
She pressed House members to criticize the Kazakh government’s human rights record. At her request, at
least five statements were published in the Congressional Record, one citing Mr. Aliyev as a victim of his
government. Separately, Mr. Aliyev offered to provide the Justice Department with documents that he
claimed could prove that his former father-in-law accepted bribes from a businessman representing American
oil companies that were seeking drilling rights in Kazakhstan
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