Foreign Relations

Lots of exciting new developments in Kazakhstan.
Apparently, a sense of humor is not one of them.

Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev
is to fly to the US to meet President Bush in
the coming weeks and on the agenda will
be his country's image.

President Nazarbayev has confirmed his
government will buy "educational" TV spots
and print advertisements about the "real
Kazakhstan" in a bid to save the country's
reputation before the film is released in the
US in November.

President Nazarbayev will visit the White
House and the Bush family compound in
Maine when he flies in for talks that will
include the fictional character Borat.

But a spokesman for the Kazakhstan
Embassy says it is unlikely that President
Nazarbayev will find the film funny.