Rights groups say Mr Karimov repressed opposition to his rule but for supporters he represented stability.
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News reveals that the ceremony will be led by Prime Minister Mirziyoyev, with three days of mourning to follow.
Over the years, the group has been affiliated with the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and it has sent fighters overseas.
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expressed condolences over the death of Uzbekistan’s long-time leader Islam Karimov, the Kremlin and the Cabinet press services said.
He came under widespread global criticism from human rights groups, but because of Uzbekistan’s location as a vital supply route for the war in neighboring Afghanistan, the West sometimes turned a blind eye to his worst abuses.
In a statement offering his condolences, U.S. President Barack Obama said his country stood with Uzbekistan as it “begins a new chapter in its history”.
The most persistent accusations from rights activists remain that government forces killed hundreds of demonstrators in the eastern city of Andijan on 13 May, 2005.
The question of the succession is of vital interest to the United States, Russia and China, who all have stakes in the Central Asia region, which has oil and gas reserves as well as metal ore.
It is unclear who is now in charge of the nation of around 30 million.
He added that unfortunate passing of Islam karimov is not only a huge loss to the Uzbek people, but also means the Chinese people have lost a true friend. In that case, interim authority should have passed to then-speaker Ovezgeldy Ataev, but he ended up being placed under arrest and Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov immediately ensconced himself as the country’s paramount leader.
“The first president of our Republic was a great historian and politician for a young country”. He was nearly penultimate representative of galaxy of Soviet party and economic leader throughout the post-Soviet space, continuing the Soviet administration school.
Karimov’s daughter had earlier this week said that her father had suffered a brain haemorrhage.
“Islam Karimov leaves a legacy of a quarter century of ruthless repression”, said Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch.
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Mukherjee said he was deeply grieved to hear of the death of Karimov. This raises the question as to why the Uzbekistan government were hesitant to make the news publicly known.
