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As oil-rich Kazakhstan went to the polls Sunday police declared that
a prominent Kazakh politician had committed suicide by shooting himself three
times.
Zamanbek Nurkadilov,a former mayor of Alma-Ata and a leading opposition political
figure, died on Nov 12. Local media quoted an unnamed law enforcement source
as saying he had taken his own life.
Nurkadilov, an opposition politician who had considered running for president
had shot himself three times, twice in the chest and once in the head, the source
said. He gave family problems as the reason for the suicide.
According to the source, Nurkadilov shot himself in the head after
two shots to the chest had failed to end his life.
Other sources in Alma-Ata -- including his widow -- believed that he
had been assassinated. They said that, while not himself a presidential
candidate, Nurkadilov was a strong voice for the opposition.
Meanwhile, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in office for
16 years, appeared Sunday to have won a landslide victory.
