Responding to the semi-annual report by Anton Rupnik, head of the OSCE Center in Almaty, Deputy Chief of the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Douglas Davidson said the United States approves of Kazakhstan\'s desire to serve as the OSCE\'s annual chairman in 2009, but the country must meet all its OSCE commitments. Among the areas needing attention, Davidson said, are reported violations of election legislation, government persecution of political opponents during election campaigns, and government harassment of the independent media. A decision on Kazakhstan\'s candidacy for the OSCE chairmanship will be made at the organization\'s annual foreign ministers\' meeting in 2006. No other Central Asian state has sought the chairmanship. (gazeta.kz)