The government and parliament of Uzbekistan had said in a joint statement on Friday that Islam Karimov, 78, had died from brain haemorrhage.
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Citing officials in Samarkand, Russian news agencies reported that Karimov’s coffin will be displayed in a city square for people to pay their last respects before he is buried in a nearby cemetery later on the day.
Mourners wept and threw flowers into the street as President Islam Karimov’s funeral cortege passed through the capital of Uzbekistan.
Karimov was derided by Western governments as a dictator who violated human rights, but for many people in Uzbekistan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet state which borders Afghanistan, he is the only head of state they have ever known.
Tightly-controlled state television interrupted hours of traditional mourning music to show footage tracing the journey of Karimov’s coffin from the hospital in the capital Tashkent to a Muslim ceremony on the turquoise-domed World Heritage site Registan square in Samarkand.
Uzbekistan announced Karimov’s death late on September 2, following days of unconfirmed reports suggesting the only post-independence leader of Central Asia’s most-populous country had already died. He crushed opposition, repressed the media and was repeatedly denounced by activists overseas for human rights violations including killings and torture.
The end of Karimov’s monolithic presidency leaves no apparent successor, as well as concern that the ensuing political uncertainty could leave an opening for Islamic extremists to coalesce.
His Cabinet, however, said in a statement that Karimov “attained a high authority in the country and in the worldwide community as an outstanding statesman, who has developed and implemented a deeply thought-out strategy of building a democratic constitutional state with a civil society and a market economy”.
Uzbekistan is ex-Soviet central Asia’s most populous country and borders Afghanistan, making it of strategic interest to Russian Federation and the United States.
“As Uzbekistan begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to partnership with Uzbekistan, to its sovereignty, security, and to a future based on the rights of all its citizens”, the statement said.
“The death of Islam Karimov may open a pretty unsafe period of unpredictability and uncertainty in Uzbekistan”, Pushkov told the Tass news agency on Friday.
Under Uzbek law, senate head Nigmatulla Yuldashev has now become acting president until early elections are held.
However, the event in Samarkand – Karimov’s home city – will be overseen by Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, seen as a potential successor.
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Both Russia and Kazakhstan – as well as neighboring Kyrgyzstan – sent their prime ministers, not presidents, to the funeral.
