Turkmenistan's iron ruler Niyazov dies

ASHGABAT, Dec 21 (Reuters) Turkmenistan's President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov died today after 21 years of iron rule in which he crushed all dissent and made his Central Asian state one of the world's most isolated countries.

State television and government sources said Niyazov, 66, whose country has the world's fifth-biggest reserves of natural gas, died overnight of cardiac arrest.

His funeral was set for December 24.

He left no designated successor and his sudden death raised concerns about the transfer of power in the desert nation, where foreign oil and gas companies are keen to invest in vast energy reserves.

In an early statement eulogising Niyazov's achievements, the government suggested his tough and isolationist policies would be maintained.

''The internal and external policies proclaimed earlier will be continued further,'' it said in the statement read on state television.

It said the former Soviet republic would respect its international obligations and bilateral treaties. ''The nation must stay united and unshaken,'' it said.

Niyazov tolerated no dissent and was regularly criticised by Western human rights groups for flouting basic freedoms. Most civil society campaigners and criticial journalists have been driven into exile or jailed, and rights groups have accused him of using torture against his opponents.

Deputy Prime Minister Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, said by the opposition to be related to Niyazov, was named to head a commission handling the funeral.

In Soviet times, the person appointed to that task usually became the successor, but it was not clear if this precedent would be followed in Turkmenistan.

PERSONALITY CULT Enjoying the title of ''Turkmenbashi (Head of the Turkmen) the Great'', Niyazov basked in a personality cult with thousands of portraits and statues of him throughout the country.

His name has been given to a sea port, farms, military units and even to a meteorite.

In an early reaction, Turkmen opposition activists in Sweden said they intended to immediately try to return to their country.

''Our first task is to return to Turkmenistan within hours.

We are discussing now how to do it. In Turkmenistan there is no opposition, they all sit in prisons or under home arrest. But outside the country opposition exists and it is coming back,'' one activist, Parakhad Yklymov, told Reuters by telephone from Sweden.

Russia said it hoped Turkmenistan would stick to Niyazov's course. ''We count on the new Turkmenistan leaders continuing their course and further developing bilateral ties,'' top Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass news agency.

CALM IN CAPITAL Niyazov had supreme power in his nation, combining the posts of president, prime minister, commander-in-chief and head of the Democratic party -- the only registered political party in Turkmenistan.

The situation in the capital Ashgabat appeared calm, with few people about on the broad streets lined with grand Soviet-era buildings.

Television ran still images of a national flag in a black-bordered frame as an orchestra played solemn folk tunes.

Workers were seen removing New Year decorations from fir trees in the streets of the capital.

Newspapers, usually full of praise for the ''great leader'', failed to appear today.

A television presenter said Niyazov had died of cardiac arrest. A government source said the leader died overnight.

The government was due to hold an emergency meeting later in the day, the television said.

REUTERS SP HS1509eut 09:01 12-21-06