Islam Karimov, who crushed all opposition in the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan as its only president in a quarter-century of independence from the Soviet Union, has died of a stroke at age 78, the Uzbek government announced Friday. An honour guard stands near a portrait of Uzbek President Islam Karimov during a mourning ceremony following Karimov’s death, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Saturday (Reuters photo)

ALMATY — Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan for the past quarter of a century, was buried in his home city of Samarkand on Saturday, leaving behind a power vacuum in a nation that serves as a bulwark against militancy in Central Asia. At Tashkent airport, as the coffin was being loaded onto a plane bound for Samarkand, Karimov's wife, Tatiana, and his younger daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, stood at the foot of the aircraft steps. Image copyright AP Image caption Police could be seen guarding an area in Samarkand on Friday

'Immense pain'

President Putin addressed his message to Uzbek senate leader Nigmatulla Yuldashev who, under the constitution, becomes acting president pending early elections.
President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan dies after 27 years in office.