“On behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government and people, I am extending deep condolences and honest sympathy to the Uzbek government and people as well as Karimov’s relatives”, Zhang said at the funeral after laying a wreath in front of Karimov’s portrait.
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Two top officials are seen as likely successors to Karimov – Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Rustam Azimov, who is the finance minister and deputy prime minister.
People would check who headed the funeral commission for a clue concerning who’d take over, when Soviet leaders died.
Saturday’s funeral comes amid uncertainty over who will succeed him.
“At this challenging time of President Islam Karimov’s passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the people of Uzbekistan”, the White House quoted Obama as saying in a statement on Friday.
Over the years, the group has been affiliated with the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and it has sent fighters overseas.
News reveals that the ceremony will be led by Prime Minister Mirziyoyev, with three days of mourning to follow.
It was on its way to the airport, from where Mr Karimov’s coffin was flown to his home city of Samarkand, 185 miles southwest of the capital.
Gulnara Karimova at the Fashion Week in Moscow, Russia in 2011.
In a statement, President Obama said the USA remains committed to its partnership with Uzbekistan as the country “begins a new chapter in its history”.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev flew in for the funeral, along with leaders from former Soviet republics, including Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Karimov was one of a handful of Soviet strongmen who clung to power after their homelands gained independence from Moscow in 1991, and he played Russian Federation, the West and China off against one another. He was nearly penultimate representative of galaxy of Soviet party and economic leader throughout the post-Soviet space, continuing the Soviet administration school.
But the stability came at a cost.
Citing an Islamist threat, Karimov cracked down ruthlessly on anyone deemed to be a religious extremist. Rights groups say detainees were tortured.
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“At this time of sorrow, the Chinese people will stand together with the Uzbek people”, Hua said. Karimov put the death toll at 169 and said his forces had put down an armed uprising.
