Kuwait asks its citizens in Kazakhstan to leave the country

The Kuwaiti embassy in Kazakhstan asked Kuwaitis in the Central Asian country to leave "for their safety", state news agency (KUNA) reported on Friday.

It also urged Kuwaitis who wanted to travel to Kazakhstan to postpone their plans "because of the emergency status" continuing in the country.

Demonstrations that began recently in Kazakhstan came as a response to a fuel price hike have swelled into a broad movement against the government and ex-leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, the longest-serving ruler of any former Soviet state.