Some news sources reported Karimov’s death Friday, although there has been no confirmation from the government.
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Russia’s state RIA-Novosti cited an unnamed Uzbek Cabinet official as denying such a statement had been sent.
However, the Uzbek government has only said Mr Karimov is critically ill.
Uzbekistan’s government said earlier in the day that Karimov was in a critical condition as his health had sharply deteriorated over the previous 24 hours.
Mr Karimov, 78, was taken to hospital last week after a brain haemorrhage.
Photographs posted Friday by the respected Central Asian news website Fergana.ru showed what appeared to be undertakers in Karimov’s hometown of Samarkand working on a cemetery plot in the graveyard where Karimov’s family is buried.
Uzbekistan under Karimov has been an authoritarian regime with the ruler suppressing opposition in the central Asian country since taking power in 1989 and cultivating no apparent successor. In addition to Mirziyoyev, Finance Minister Rustam Azimov and National Security Committee head Rustam Inoyatov are also considered potential successors to Karimov, or at the very least will be influential in choosing who fills Karimov’s shoes.
“Uzbekistan’s tightly controlled state media have not mentioned Karimov’s illness, and it also remains unclear who is now in charge of the country”.
According to the country’s constitution, the chairman of the upper house of parliament is supposed to take over after Karimov’s death, and elections must take place within three months.
His time at the helm has been criticised by human rights groups, with a United Nations report saying the regime uses “systematic” torture.
Uzbekistan’s prime minister led the nation’s Independence Day celebration Wednesday in the capital of Tashkent as President Islam Karimov remained hospitalized.
Speculation mounted on Thursday following a report by Reuters saying that authorities had started cleaning up Karimov’s home town of Samarkand, possibly preparing it for the leader’s funeral.
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In a rare contact with mass media, Lola said in a written reply to questions from the BBC in 2013 that she had no political ambitions and declined to say who she thought could succeed her father.
