A man walks past the monument of Amir Timur, the 14th-century conqueror and founder of the Timurid Empire, in Tashkent December 26, 2009. Uzbekistan will vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election certain to cement President Islam Karimov's grip on power in a Central Asian nation key to Western efforts to contain the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (UZBEKISTAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS SOCIETY)