Turkmenistan President Dies

Turkmen President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov has died, a government source told Reuters on Thursday.

“It happened overnight. The president has died,” the source said.

He gave no further information.

State television showed Niyazov’s portrait in a black frame, and a news presenter was reading a list of his accomplishments and merits. In a terse statement, the report said Niyazov died early Thursday of sudden heart failure.

Niyazov, 66, had been in power in his reclusive Central Asian state —- the second largest natural gas producer in the former Soviet Union —- since 1985 before independence from Moscow.

He tolerated no dissent and enjoyed a flourishing personality cult with thousands of portraits and statues to him throughout the country.

His name has been given to a sea port, farms, military units and even to a meteorite.

A Reuters correspondent in the Turkmen capital said the situation was calm but workers were seen removing New Year decorations from fir trees in the streets.

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