Death may spark Central Asian power play

[lovuian]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20964242-2703,00.html

THE death of the idiosyncratic and iron-fisted dictator of Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic that borders both Iran and Afghanistan, could trigger a new round in the fierce battle between the United States and Russia for control of Central Asia's huge oil and gas reserves.
Saparmurat Niyazov, 66, whose death was announced Thursday after an apparent heart attack overnight, left no clear successor. That circumstance, analysts say, is likely to allow Moscow and Washington to jockey for influence over the country's gas supplies.

Turkmenistan is the second-largest natural gas producer in the former Soviet sphere, after Russia. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the country holds 2.9 trillion cubic meters of gas, though estimates vary on how large its reserves actually are.

Niyazov's death immediately sparked worries of instability and possibly bloodshed. Named "President for Life" by his rubber-stamp legislature in 2002, he'd provided no clear way to assure a peaceful transfer of power.

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Wonder who is going to win this battle Russia or Bush???

[Trajan]

1. Did he get his heart attack from ...

Polonium ? .... or a quick landing in a small plane crash ?

[lovuian]

2. Its amazing how this presidents leave early

from this world ...especially the ones who sit on millions of barrels of oil
:)

[TomInTib]

3. This is going to play out, large.

And it is going to be a huge slap on the market when the Turkmens cast their lot with Russia.

They will go with perceived stability.