Uzbekistan’s Islam Karimov critically ill: government
The health of President Islam Karimov, 78, has sharply deteriorated over the last 24 hours, cabinet says.
Uzbekistan’s Islam Karimov is in critical condition after a stroke, the government has said, which could mean that Central Asia’s most populous nation is preparing for its first transfer of power since independence.
The health of Karimov, 78, sharply deteriorated over the past 24 hours, the cabinet said in a brief statement on Friday.
“The doctors assess [his health] as critical,” the statement said, adding Karimov has been in hospital since Saturday.
Several other media outlets, including Russian news agency RIA and Uzbek news website Gazeta.uz, also ran reports quoting the same statement.
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Uzbekistan celebrated its Independence Day on September 1 with Karimov notably absent from the celebrations, causing speculation over his health.
Several reports, which were later officially denied, claimed he had died on August 29.
Born on January 30, 1938, Karimov was raised in an orphanage in the ancient city of Samarkand, before studying mechanical engineering and economics and rising up the Communist Party ranks to become head of Soviet Uzbekistan in 1989.