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Turkmenistan president Niyazov dies of heart failure

December 21, 2006
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Moscow (dpa) - Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled the gas-rich Central Asian country for two decades, died early Thursday of heart failure, the Russian Interfax agency reported. He was 66.

The man who had been titled "Turkmenbashi" (Head of the Turkmen) had ruled the oil- and gas-rich former Soviet republic ever since its independence in 1990.

Niyazov had been suffering from heart ailments for some time. In 1997, he underwent bypass surgery in a clinic in Munich, Germany.

Interfax said he died at 1:10 a.m. In the meantime, the country's National Security Council was meeting in the Turkmenistan capital, Ashkhabad to review the security situation and take steps to assure stability. National mourning was declared.

Reports in Moscow citing the Russian embassy in Ashkhabad described the situation as calm.

Under the Turkmenistan constitution, presidential powers now go to the speaker of the country's parliament, Ovesgeldi Atayev, until new elections are carried out.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow expected that under the next leader there would be continuity in the two countries' relations.

Niyazov had ruled the Central Asian state with an authoritarian style rule which tolerated no dissent. International surveys concerning democracy and human rights consistently placed Turkmenistan in the lower rankings.

Earlier Thursday, the paper The News-International in Pakistan quoted two government officials in the Turkmenistan capital, Ashkhabad, as confirming Niyazov's death.

"We are all in shock," a senior government official was quoted as saying.

Another Turkmenistan official was quoted as saying: "Today the Turkmen president died unexpectedly."  // © 2006 DPA

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