Kazakh ex-leader Nazarbayev undergoes successful heart surgery – spokesman

ALMATY (Reuters) – Former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has undergone a successful heart surgery and his life is not in danger, his spokesman Aidos Ukibay said on Friday.

Ukibay’s tweet followed reports by Kazakh media that Nazarbayev, 82, who ran the oil-rich country for three decades, was hospitalised.

Nazarbayev resigned as president in 2019 and lost his remaining positions of power last year after falling out with his successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev amid violent unrest.

This month, the Kazakh parliament repealed a law that had given Nazarbayev the title of Yelbasy, or the leader of the nation, and granted legal immunity to his immediate family members.

Nazarbayev himself still enjoys immunity from prosecution given to him by the constitution.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the headline)

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Peter Graff)