ASTANA, Kazakhstan _ Kazakhstan's justice minister said Tuesday that the Central Asian nation will introduce life imprisonment next year as a new form of punishment intended to replace the death penalty.

   Onalsyn Zhumabekov told a government meeting that his ministry had drawn up a draft bill that would allow courts from January 2004 to sentence those convicted for grave crimes to life in prison instead of death. To come into  force, the bill has to be approved by parliament.

   Zhumabekov said the bill was part of preparations for the introduction of a moratorium on death penalty. He did not say when the moratorium would be announced.

   Last year, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan should introduce a moratorium on the death penalty and consider abolishing it altogether as part of the country's legal reforms.

   Zhumabekov said a special prison would be built in the northern town of Pavlodar for those sentenced for life.