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MOSCOW (AP) — News agencies report a concert marking Uzbekistan's 25th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union has been cancelled amid uncertainty about the health of the country's hospitalized president.
The Uzbek government on Sunday announced that Islam Karimov, the 78-year-old hardliner who has ruled since independence, had been hospitalized, but gave no further details. His daughter later said on social media that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage.
No government statements on his health were issued Tuesday, a day after unconfirmed reports of his death circulated.
Russia's Interfax news agency cited an unnamed organizer of the independence day observances as saying a concert planned for Wednesday in the capital Tashkent had been cancelled. The state news agency RIA Novosti cited a diplomatic source as saying Uzbekistan informed Russia of the cancellation.
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