Uzbekistan appears to be preparing for president’s funeral

Moscow, Sep 2 (AP) Uzbekistan appeared to be preparing fora state funeral after saying today that the country’spresident is critically ill. Islam Karimov has run anauthoritarian government in the Central Asian nation since1989, and cultivated no apparent successor. Karimov, 78, hasn’t been seen in public since mid-August,but his government admitted only last weekend that he was ill. His daughter Lola said he had suffered a brain hemorrhage,and a swarm of unofficial reports have placed him close todeath or even dead. "Dear compatriots, it is with a heavy heart that we informyou that the health of our President has sharply deterioratedin the past 24 hours to reach a critical state, according tothe doctors," the government’s statement read. The uncertainty over Karimov’s health has raised concernsthat Uzbekistan could face prolonged infighting among clansover leadership claims, something its Islamic radical movementcould exploit. Given the lack of access to the country it’shard to judge how powerful the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistanmight be, but the group has over the years been affiliatedwith the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group and hassent fighters abroad. Uzbekistan celebrated its Independence Day yesterday, andit was widely assumed that the government would not break anynews until after the festivities. Today, indications mountedthat the country was preparing for a funeral. Photographs posted today by the respected Central Asiannews website Fergana.ru showed what appeared to be undertakersin Karimov’s hometown of Samarkand working on a cemetery plotin the graveyard where Karimov’s family is buried. The Samarkand airport issued a notice saying it would beclosed to all flights except specially approved aircrafttomorrow, according to the website of the US Federal AviationAdministration. A top diplomat in neighboring Kyrgyzstan told TheAssociated Press that the Kyrgyz prime minister had beeninvited to Karimov’s funeral and would attend, leaving todayor tomorrow. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity becausehe was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim offeredhis condolences to the Uzbek people for Karimov’s death,though it was not clear how he got the news. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said theKremlin had no confirmation that Karimov might be dead. (AP)ABH