"Kazakh legislation only allows our citizens to serve in other countries' armies if provided for by international accords and currently no such accord exists, so I don't know how our citizens could legally serve," Colonel Aleksei Lonovenko told the Express K daily in an interview.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that recruiting from elsewhere in the 12-nation Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) would raise the professionalism of Russia's ailing and chronically underfunded military.

"They will be motivated to serve better than Russian citizens because one mistake and they will be kicked out. And if they stay on, they'll get a Russian passport in three years," Ivanov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

Ivanov has proposed setting up a small but fully professional armed force as the backbone of Russia's defences by 2007 while leaving the highly unpopular conscription process almost completely intact.

Russian generals have warned that attempts to overhaul the military and turn it into an effective fighting force are progressing slowly because of a problem in recruiting sergeants and soldiers deterred by low salaries.

Lonovenko's response appeared to reflect Kazakhstan's efforts to steer a course between its former Soviet master, Moscow, and Western powers led by the United States who have increasing military and commmercial influence in Central Asia.

Kazakhstan guardedly accepted the case for the US-led war to unseat Iraqi President Saddam Hussein despite Russian opposition to the move.

At the same time Kazakhstan is participating in efforts to establish a collective security organisation of six CIS countries led by Russia, under which Russian fighter planes will be stationed in Kazakhstan's southern neighbour, Kyrgyzstan.

SPACE.WIRE