Amid Conflicting Reports, Fate Of Ailing Uzbek President Remains Unclear

[TomSea]

Amid Conflicting Reports, Fate Of Ailing Uzbek President Remains Unclear
http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan-karimov-ailing-hemorrhage-fate-unclear/27954383.html

Uzbek President Islam Karimov reportedly dies

Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov died of a stroke on August 29 at 15:35, the Moscow-based Central Asian news agency Fergana News reported, citing anonymous sources. The 79-year-old strongman had been running the Uzbek republic since its independence in 1989 with an iron fist.

The office of the president issued a very short statement late on August 29 denying the reports of Karimov's death and said he was in a stable condition. Earlier the government, in a rare comment on the president's health, admitted he had been hospitalised.

On August 29, Karimov’s daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyayeva wrote on her Instagram account that her father was in hospital due to a “cerebral haemorrhage”, adding that his condition was “stable”.

Sources close to the People Movement of Uzbekistan (PMU), an umbrella group of diaspora opposition movements headed by exiled political activist Muhammad Solih, claimed to have been present when Karimov lost consciousness on August 26, when the Uzbek leader received the country’s Olympic team at his residence near Tashkent. Karimov reportedly lost consciousness after consuming some alcohol at the banquet, the PMU said in a statement on its website.

More At: http://www.intellinews.com/uzbek-president-islam-karimov-reportedly-dies-104960/?source=uzbekistan

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