Uzbek election expected to extend Karimov's rule

By Maria Golovnina

TASHKENT (Reuters) - Uzbeks voted on Sunday in an election widely expected to extend President Islam Karimov's 18-year rule and condemned by the opposition and human rights activists as a Soviet-style one-man contest.

Mainly Muslim Uzbekistan, bordering Afghanistan and endowed with large gas and oil reserves, is at the heart of a geopolitical power struggle between the West and Russia, which sees Central Asia as its traditional sphere of interest.

International rights groups have accused Karimov, in power since 1989, of violating basic freedoms. The former Communist Party leader's government was criticized in the West in 2005 when troops opened fire on a protest in the town of Andizhan.

Public criticism of Karimov, who enjoys wide powers, is taboo in Uzbekistan, so voters were generally reluctant to talk about their views when polling began at 6 a.m. (0100 GMT). Some wore traditional Uzbek dress and black skull caps.

In the old part of the capital Tashkent, its narrow, rain-washed streets lined with mud-brick houses, mosques and craft shops, early voters appeared just before morning prayers.

"I voted for the incumbent," said Pakhadyr Ismanbekov, a man in his 50s. "We are happy with the president. He has been around for a long time and we are used to him."

But another man, requesting anonymity, said: "We've been ruled by the same person for almost 20 years. Some people say they are running out of patience. It's more like a monarchy."

A woman in her 30s, asking to be identified only as Sonya, said: "I don't feel strongly about the election. Everyone knows the result already."

OPPOSITION

Karimov faces three other candidates in a line-up analysts say is designed to give the election a semblance of a democratic vote. There are no registered opposition parties in Uzbekistan and most opposition leaders live in exile abroad.

A handful of those still in Uzbekistan, which is also among the world's top 10 gold producers and the number two cotton exporter, have cried foul.

"Under no circumstances should one accept this election as legitimate," Nigara Khidoyatova, leader of the unregistered opposition Ozod Dekhkonlar party, said before the election.

"We live in an ugly and amoral regime which admits no human values. And the main element of this are lies and falsification. The election ... is just a show for Western nations."

The election monitoring arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has sent a small mission to Tashkent to watch the vote. It criticized Uzbekistan this month for suppressing opposition voices ahead of the ballot.

Witnesses said hundreds of people were killed in the 2005 incident in Andizhan. The government put the death toll at 187, saying most of the victims were terrorists or security forces.