Uzbek leader recovering from brain haemorrhage, daughter says

ALMATY (Reuters) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov's daughter said on Wednesday that her father was recovering from a brain haemorrhage, countering speculation that he had died. In an Instagram message, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva - the long-standing leader's younger daughter - thanked well-wishers for their support, saying this was helping her father's recovery. The message came after reports in some media that Karimov, 78, the only ruler Uzbekistan has known since gaining independence in 1991, had died after the brain haemorrhage. The Tashkent government has made no statement since saying on Sunday that Karimov, who has no obvious successor, was in hospital. However, it has cancelled an event on Wednesday morning which used to take place annually and where Karimov met the public to commemorate victims of Soviet-era repressions. The Cabinet has also cancelled a concert for senior officials and diplomats which used to take place every year on the eve of Independence Day, which Uzbekistan marks on Thursday, Sep. 1, a diplomatic source told Reuters. Tashkent city authorities said they would press ahead with Thursday festivities for the wider public. It was unclear whether someone would deliver a commemorative speech later on Wednesday in Karimov's place. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov and Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Louise Ireland)