(NBC) The authoritarian leader of Uzbekistan has suffered a stroke, his family said, stoking fears of a power vacuum and possible influx of radical Islamists in the impoverished Central Asian country.
Reports about septuagenarian President Islam Karimov's health issues have been floating around for years, but always came from opposition sites based out of Uzbekistan and were refuted by officials.
Karimov's daughter gave an update on Monday, saying her father had suffered a stroke. But in an unprecedented move, the Uzbek government admitted that Karimov had been hospitalized — though the terse statement issued Sunday offered no details on his condition.
"…the situation seems serious because his hospitalization was announced publicly," said Shairbek Juraev, an expert on the region… […]
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