Moscow - The stable facade of the most notorious police state in the former Soviet Union, the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, was torn apart yesterday as a series of powerful bombs exploded in the centre of the country's capital, Tashkent. At least 14 people were killed and 128 seriously injured.
State television said the blasts had been intended to kill President Islam Karimov, the authoritarian patriarch who has ruled the country since 1989. Mr Karimov was not hurt.
