MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Uzbek leader Islam Karimov’s death will not affect security in Uzbekistan and extremists will not be able to take advantage of the situation because local authorities maintain control in the Central Asian republic, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special envoy to Afghanistan, said Tuesday.
Karimov died on September 2 after suffering a stroke.
“I think it will not affect negatively the military and political situation in Uzbekistan and surrounding it… The leadership controls the situation,” Kabulov, who also directs the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department, told RIA Novosti.
The diplomat allayed fears of a possible terrorist threat stemming from expectations of extremists attempting to destabilize the situation in Uzbekistan following Karimov's death.
“For now they are failing,” he stressed and noted the acting leadership's policy of succession in maintaining stability.
