Kazakh prime minister dismissed, made security agency chief

MOSCOW – The office of the president of Kazakhstan says the country's prime minister has been dismissed and appointed to lead the security agency.

The statement released by the president's office on Thursday said a deputy prime minister has been named acting prime minister.

Karim Masimov, who had served as prime minister since 2014 and previously for five years until 2012, will head the Committee for National Security, the president's office said.

Kazakhstan is the richest Central Asian nation. It has been ruled by President Nursultan Nazarbayev since the 1991 Soviet collapse. He was last re-elected in 2011 with 96 percent of the vote.