French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie paid her first visit to Kazakhstan on 7 July, discussing military and technical cooperation with President Nazarbaev and the country\'s top military leadership. Alliot-Marie told journalists that the French leadership is interested in cooperating with its partners in Central Asia to analyze the unstable situation developing in that region. She also offered French help to Kazakhstan in professionalizing its army and discussed French interest in using Kazakh military testing grounds for joint training exercises. Kazakh Defense Minister Colonel General Mukhtar Altynbaev told journalists that a project to teach French to the Kazakh military is under way with the assistance of the French Embassy in Almaty. France has offered to provide training for Kazakh officers at French military institutions and technical assistance for Kazakh peacekeepers in Iraq. (Interfax-Kazakhstan)