sentences:  Previously, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev dismissed Altynbayev from his post as Defense Minister in August 1999 along with Nurtay Abikayev, the head of the National Security Committee.According to "Radio Free Europe", they were dismissed for "failing to properly investigate" the illegal sale of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter aircraft to North Korea.In March 2000 he became commander of Kazakhstan's Air Defense Force.