Kyrgyzstan's Justice Minister Almambet Shykmamatov has announced his intention to hand in his resignation.
Shykmamatov appeared on the RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service's television program "Inconvenient Questions" on February 2 and announced his plans to tender his resignation.
Shykmamatov said he was taking this action because he refused to apologize to the head of the presidential administration Daniyar Narymbaev.
Shykmamatov was cited by a Kyrgyz newspaper as saying Narymbaev's political intrigues were responsible for former prosecutor general Aida Salyanova's decision to step down last month.
Shykmamatov said his words were misinterpreted by the newspaper but he still refused to apologize as Narymbaev has been demanding.
Deputies requested the journalist who wrote the article with Shykmamatov's alleged comments come to parliament to answer questions on February 2 but the journalist replied he was on a business trip and could not appear.
Chairman of parliament's coalition council Feliks Kulov said Shymamatov's comments damaged the reputation of President Almazbek Atambaev.
