INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Activists in Kazakhstan said Saturday they were refused permission to hold a rally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as tensions over
the war spill into Moscow's neighborhood
Almaty to hold a rally against the invasion that gathered more than 2,000 people and featured chants and slogans insulting Russian President
demonstration, explaining a square designated for demonstrations was being used for a rally in support of Kazakhstan's President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instead.Footage on social media showed several hundred at that gathering on the square in central Almaty.An AFP
correspondent saw participants pack signs with slogans such as "Together with the president" into a van as they prepared to vacate it at
local time.Alnur Ilyashev, an activist who notified authorities of his intent to organize the peace rally for Saturday, told AFP that the
organizers of the pro-Tokayev rally had "booked" the square for the whole day, meaning that no other rallies could take place there even
after they left."In reality they only held (the demonstration) to prevent us from holding our anti-war meeting," Ilyashev told
authorities.The foreign ministry last month signaled its neutrality in the conflict over Ukraine and said it is not considering recognition
of two Russia-backed separatist entities in Ukraine's east.The move attracted sharp criticism from Margarita Simonyan, the outspoken editor
of Russia's state-financed media outlet Russia Today.Neighboring Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov on Thursday said his
country supported Ukraine's territorial integrity and called for an immediate end to fighting in the country in a speech in
