Kazakh reporter stabbed, badly injured

The editor of a newspaper in Kazakhstan said one of her reporters was targeted for a vicious assault because of his work. Lukpan Akhmedyarov, who works for Uralsk Week, was stabbed Thursday outside his apartment building in Uralsk, The Daily Telegraph of London reported. He was reported to be in serious but stable condition. "We knew he was under surveillance. We all are, " Tamara Yesmy, the newspaper's editor, commented on the Uralsk Week Web site. Yesmy did not speculate on who was behind the surveillance. Kazakh journalists have complained of a government crackdown since a deadly riot in December. Akhmedyarov had a reputation for independence at a newspaper that has been one of the few in Kazakhstan willing to criticize the government, the Telegraph said. Uralsk is also one of the few cities in Kazakhstan where there have been anti-government protests in recent months. "This near-fatal attack on Lukpan Akhmedyarov shows just how dangerous it is to be an independent investigative journalist in Kazakhstan," Robert Mahoney of the Committee to Protect Journalists said on the group's Web site.