Uzbekistan's hard man president Islam Karimov dies at 78 and in the wings to replace him are his tough guy enforcer, finance chief, veteran security boss... and his 'non-entity' stand-in 

Uzbekistan's only post-Soviet President Islam Karimov's death has prompted fears of a power struggle

Uzbekistan has been plunged into the greatest period of uncertainty in its post-Soviet history following the death of strongman dictator Islam Karimov.

The 78-year-old, who crushed all opposition in the Central Asian country as its only president in a quarter-century of independence from the Soviet Union, died of a stroke yesterday.

He will be buried at a ceremony today in his home city of Samarkand in central Uzbekistan.

The country will then begin three days of mourning. 

His death follows days of speculation that officials were delaying making his death public, with no clear successor for the iron-fisted ruler lined up. 

Karimov suffered a stroke last weekend and fell into a coma.

People stand along a road today to pay the tribute to the memory of Uzbek late President Islam Karimov as a mourning motorcade drive by in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Flowers were thrown at a motorcade as people lined the streets to pay tribute to Karimov today

Despite his brutal quarter century rule earning him a reputation abroad as one of the region's most savage despots, people in Karimov's hometown mourned his passing and youths wore black clothes.

His younger daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, said in a social media post Monday that he had been hospitalized in the capital of Tashkent after a brain hemorrhage Aug. 27. 

On Friday, she posted again, saying: 'He is gone.'

People throw flowers on the hearse today as they gather along the road to watch the funeral procession of President Islam Karimov in Samarkand

One of the world's most authoritarian rulers, Karimov cultivated no apparent successor, and his death raised concerns that the predominantly Sunni Muslim country could face prolonged infighting among clans over its leadership, something its Islamic radical movement could exploit.

Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told the Tass news agency: 'The death of Islam Karimov may open a pretty dangerous period of unpredictability and uncertainty in Uzbekistan.'

Uzbekistan honor guards stand next to a large portrait of the late President Islam Karimov and his awards in Samarkand today

POTENTIAL SUCCESSORS FOR STRONGMAN 

Shavkat Mirziyoyev - The technocrat prime minister

Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Viewed as a tough-guy enforcer, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, 58, appears to be the front-runner to take over long term after he was named head of the committee organising Karimov's funeral.

Technocrat Mirziyoyev, who has served as prime minister since 2003, is reported to have close ties to the former president's family and to key security bosses.

According to rights activists the former governor of Karimov's home region of Samarkand has been in charge of making sure the country fulfils its annual cotton quotas.

That places him at the heart of a industry that is crucial to the Uzbek economy - it is one of the world's leading cotton producers - but is accused of forcing over a million citizens, including children, to pick the cotton each year.

Rustam Azimov - The finance chief

Deputy premier and finance minister Azimov, 57, is reportedly viewed by foreign diplomats as more friendly to West, although he is still a key member of Karimov's inner circle.

The former banker - in place since 2005 - has been touted as a possible replacement after apparently weathering power struggles.

After years at the heart of the Uzbek elite Azimov is implicated in the vast web of corruption that has purportedly seen those close to Karimov amass vast fortunes.

After news emerged that Karimov was in hospital rumours flew that Azimov had been placed under house arrest, but they were quickly denied and he has been named as part of Karimov's funeral committee.

Rustam Inoyatov - the veteran security boss

The country's powerful security chief Inoyatov, who has held the post since 1995, has long been seen as the key power behind the throne.

At 72 the former KGB officer may not take the top job himself but the long-time Karimov ally looks likely to have a decisive say in who does.

Inoyatov's reputation is seriously tarnished for his alleged role in the bloody suppression of protests in the eastern city of Andijan in 2005 - when hundreds of demonstrators are believed to have been gunned down in a massacre.

While officially he controls Uzbekistan's security service he also effectively exerts control over the army and other law enforcement agencies.

Nigmatulla Yuldashev - the stand-in leader

According to Uzbekistan's constitution, senate leader takes over temporarily until early elections are held within three months.

But commentators describe Yuldashev as a little-known 'non-entity' who is unlikely to have the clout to impose himself in the long run.

The Karimovs - the despot's family

Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, Karimov's daughter

Still likely to play a big role are Karimov's widow Tatyana and his younger daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva.

Karimova-Tillyaeva, Uzbekistan's ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, took to social media during her father's illness to confirm he had suffered a brain haemorrhage.

She told the BBC in rare comments in 2013 that she did not foresee a career in politics for herself, insisting she was focused on her young family.

She also said that she had not spoken to her older sister Gulnara for 12 years.

Once seen as a potential heir to her father's throne one-time socialite, pop star and business magnate Gulnara, 44, spectacularly fell from grace in a bitter family feud and was placed under house arrest in 2014.

Gulnara, a former ambassador to the UN in Geneva, is being probed in Europe over a $330 million telecoms corruption scandal.

Mourners lined the streets to watch the president's funeral today

A farewell ceremony was held for Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov near Tashkent International Airport today

 He lead a fearful regime and led through brutal repression, his critics have said.

Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: 'Islam Karimov leaves a legacy of a quarter century of ruthless repression.

'Karimov ruled through fear to erect a system synonymous with the worst human rights abuses: torture, disappearances, forced labour, and the systematic crushing of dissent.'

People hold flowers as they gather along the road to watch the funeral procession of President Islam Karimov in Samarkand

Nevertheless Karimov's visitors in his last year included US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Uzbekistan still receives US aid. 

Given the lack of access to the strategic country, it's hard to judge how powerful the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan might be. 

Karimov, right, pictured alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2008

Over the years, the group has been affiliated with the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and it has sent fighters abroad.

Under the Uzbek constitution, if the president dies his duties pass temporarily to the head of the senate until an election can be held within three months. 

However, the head of the Uzbek senate is regarded as unlikely to seek permanent power and Karimov's demise is expected to set off a period of jockeying for political influence.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev leaves a plane as he arrives to take part in mourning events related to the death of Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Samarkand

Karimov was known as a tyrant with an explosive temper and a penchant for cruelty.

His troops machine-gunned hundreds of unarmed demonstrators to death during a 2005 uprising, he jailed thousands of political opponents, and his henchmen reportedly boiled some dissidents to death.

He came under widespread international 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.

Crowds turned out in force to mourn the death of Islam Karimov at the age of 78

But Karimov's death caused widespread upset across Usbekistan. 

'When we found out about his death, all my family - by wife, my son's wife, the children - we were all crying, we couldn't believe it,' one local man, 58, told AFP, refusing to give his name.

'It is a great loss for every Uzbek. He made our country free and developed.'

State television in the tightly-controlled nation earlier showed soldiers loading a coffin onto a plane for what it described as Karimov's final journey to Samarkand, with two women who appeared to be his wife and younger daughter weeping on the tarmac.

Authorities said Karimov's coffin would be displayed in a city square for people to pay their last respects before he is buried in a nearby cemetery later Saturday next to other family members.

Eyewitnesses told AFP that they had seen the funeral cortege pass but that the event was open only to guests with official invitations.

Karimov suffered a stroke last week, and the announcement of his death followed days of speculation

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to fly in for the funeral, along with a coterie of leaders from former Soviet republics including Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Loyalist Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev heads the organising committee for the funeral, in a sign that he could be the frontrunner to take over long-term from Karimov.

Under Uzbek law, senate head Nigmatulla Yuldashev has now become acting president until early elections are held.

Barack Obama said he had recently congratulated Karimov on Uzbekistan's 25 years of independence

Noting Karimov's death, President Barack Obama said in a statement that the US 'reaffirms its support for the people of Uzbekistan'.

'This week, I congratulated President Karimov and the people of Uzbekistan on their country's 25 years of independence,' Obama said in the statement. 

'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.'

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was 'saddened' following Karimov's death

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was 'saddened' at Karimov's death and paid tribute to his efforts 'to develop strong ties between Uzbekistan and the United Nations as well as strengthen regional and global peace and security,' UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Ban singled out Karimov's promotion of the treaty to establish the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone which entered into force in 2009.

China's Foreign Ministry called Karimov 'a sincere friend' who promoted a strategic partnership between the two countries. 

Karimov (right) with Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and China's President Xi Jinping (centre) during the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit in Ufa, Russia

His death 'is a great loss of the Uzbek people', ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, according to state media.

Uzbekistan, a country of 30 million people famous for its apricot orchards, cotton fields and ancient stone cities along the Silk Road, had been one of the Muslim world's paragons of art and learning.

But Karimov cracked down on any form of Islam that wasn't patently subservient to him.

His leadership style was epitomized by propaganda posters often displayed in Uzbekistan that depicted him alongside Tamerlane, a 14th-century emperor who had conquered a vast region of West, South and Central Asia.

Karimov was known to shout and swear at officials, and was rumoured to have lashed out when he became angry

He was known to shout and swear at officials during meetings and it was widely rumored that in bursts of anger he would beat officials and throw ashtrays at them.

Under Karimov, the economy remained centralized, with a handful of officials controlling the most lucrative industries and trade. 

A 1996 ban on the free convertibility of the national currency, the som, blocked trade and foreign investment, while unemployment soared and poverty was widespread.

Islam Karimov (left) welcomes chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers prior to their meeting in presidential residence outside of Tashkent in 2002

Endemic corruption stymied development, despite considerable resources of natural gas and gold, along with its cotton exports. Millions of Uzbeks have flooded into Russia and neighboring Kazakhstan to support their families with remittances that amount to a sizable part of the country's GDP.

Karimov was suspicious of the West and infuriated by its criticism of his human rights record, but he also dreaded Islamic militancy, fearing it could grow into a strong opposition.

He unleashed a harsh campaign against Muslims starting in 1997 and intensifying in 1999 after eight car bombs exploded near key government buildings in Tashkent. The explosions killed 16 people and wounded more than 100.

The strongman president, whose record has been attacked by human rights activists, died yesterday after suffering a stroke

'I am ready to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, for the sake of peace and tranquility in the country,' Karimov said afterward. 'If a child of mine chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head.'

In the next few years, thousands of Muslims who practiced their faith outside government-controlled mosques were rounded up and jailed for alleged links to banned Islamic groups.

In 2004, a series of bombings and attacks on police killed more than 50 people and sparked a new wave of arrests and convictions.

Islam Karimov (centre) shakes hands with Indian President Pratibha Patil (right) as Uzbek First Lady Tatyana Karimova (left) looks on during a ceremonial reception at President House in New Delhi in May 18, 2011

Following 9/11, the West overlooked Karimov's harsh policies and cut a deal with him in 2001 to use Uzbekistan's Karshi-Khanabad air base for combat missions in Afghanistan.

During a May 2005 uprising in the eastern city of Andijan, Uzbek troops fired on demonstrators, killing more than 700 people, according to witnesses and human rights groups. It was the world's worst massacre of protesters since the 1989 bloodbath in China's Tiananmen Square.

Angered by U.S. criticism of the crackdown, Karimov evicted U.S. forces from the base.

Karimov attends a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and his delegation at the Palace of Forums in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, last year

He later quietly softened his position, allowing Uzbekistan to be part of the Northern Distribution Network supply route for Afghanistan, whose utility declined when Russia dropped out of the network in 2015. 

The United States in turn agreed to start the sale of non-lethal military goods to his regime.

Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov was born on January 30, 1938, and studied economics and engineering in what was then a Soviet republic, rising through the Communist Party bureaucracy.

In 1989, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made Karimov Uzbekistan's Communist Party chief in the wake of a huge corruption scandal that involved top Uzbek officials. 

At the time, Karimov was seen as a hard-working and uncorrupt Communist.

On March 24, 1990, the local parliament elected him president of the Uzbek Socialist Republic, and in December 1991, just days after the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Karimov won the presidency in a popular vote.

Shaken by a series of ethnic and religious riots in the turbulent years surrounding the Soviet collapse, Karimov was obsessed with stability and security. 

He said Uzbekistan would follow its own path of reform and would build democracy and a market economy without the turmoil and crises of most other former Soviet nations.

Mourners lined the streets to pay tribute to the Uzbekistan's president after his death was announced yesterday

After his 1991 election, the fledgling democratic opposition was banned and forced into exile. 

The media were muzzled by censorship. Law enforcement and security services grew increasingly powerful and abusive, and the use of torture in prisons was labeled 'systematic' by international observers.

Karimov's death would 'mark the end of an era in Uzbekistan, but almost certainly not the pattern of grave human rights abuses, said Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International.

 'His successor is likely to come from Karimov's closest circle, where dissenting minds have never been tolerated.'

Karimov was a distant leader. His annual New Year's address to the nation was always read by a TV anchor. His wife rarely appeared in public, and his vacations were never announced.

But the public was constantly reminded of his leadership by banners with quotes from his speeches posted on buildings and billboards.

All of his election victories were landslides, but none were recognized as free or fair by international observers. 

His only challenger in 2000, Abdulkhafiz Dzhalolov, said he himself voted for Karimov.

People gather along the road under the Uzbekistan national flag with a black ribbon to watch the funeral procession of President Islam Karimov in Tashkent

His nephew, opposition journalist Jamshid Karimov, was forcibly committed to a psychiatric institution after a series of articles criticizing his uncle and other officials.

Karimov's oldest daughter, Gulnara, generated media buzz over her immense wealth, fashion shows and music videos done under the stage name GooGoosha. Sometimes touted as a potential successor, she was both admired and despised at home.

In 2014, she used her Twitter account to accuse Uzbekistan's security services of orchestrating a campaign of harassment against her and deceiving her father. 

The president's daughter Gulnara Karimova pictured at an event at Uzbekistan's Centre of National Arts in October 2013

Her tweets then stopped, prompting speculation that she and her 15-year-old daughter were under house arrest in Tashkent.

Word of Karimov's death began spreading even before the Uzbek government announced it Friday night, with officials in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan saying leaders from those countries would attend his funeral and the Turkish prime minister offering condolences. 

Uzbekistan celebrated its Independence Day on Thursday, which is perhaps why the government had delayed any news about Karimov.

Police guard as people gather along a road to watch the funeral procession of President Islam Karimov in Tashkent

Photos carried Friday by the respected Central Asian news website Fergana.ru showed what appeared to be undertakers in Samarkand working on a plot in the cemetery where Karimov's family is buried.

The Samarkand airport said it would be closed to all flights except specially approved aircraft Saturday, according to U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's website.

Uzbek opposition blogger Nadezhda Atayeva said on Friday that Uzbek authorities appeared to be cracking down on communication channels. 

Speaking from western France, she said an opposition contact told her via Skype that government officials had been told to turn off their phones and Internet speeds had slowed. As he spoke, she said, the signal went dead.

Karimov (right) welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks in Tashkent, Uzbekistan