By Shamil Baigin

TASHKENT, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Critics of Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, who extended his long rule in Sunday's election, call him a dictator who rules through repression and torture. He describes himself as a bulwark against Islamist extremists.

"Such people must be shot in the head," he said in 1998 in a speech to parliament. "If necessary, I'll shoot them myself, if you lack the resolve."

The stocky former Communist boss, 69, who grew up in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, quickly rose through the ranks when Uzbekistan was part of the former Soviet Union.

His private life is shrouded in secrecy. Karimov, Uzbekistan's only head of state since independece, seldom appears in public. People close to him say that in private he shows little mercy for subordinates.

"At first he gave us a lot of hope as a pragmatic and competent leader, but after 1993 he completely lost it," said one former high-ranking government official who worked in his team for several years.

Once a key ally of the United States in its global war on terror, Karimov is now one of the world's most isolated leaders.

His relations with the West soured in 2005 when he was condemned by the United States and Europe after his troops opened fire on a protest in the town of Andizhan, killing hundreds of people, according to witnesses.

Up to 7,000 people are in jail for political and religious reasons, rights activists say.

Karimov denies human rights violations. His rhetoric has become increasingly forceful since he evicted U.S. troops from a military base in the wake of the Andizhan incident.

"Do not interfere in our affairs, not under the pretext of furthering freedom, democracy, and do not create precedents of telling us what to do, who to befriend and how to orient ourselves," he told the West in 2006.

SOVIET PAST

His rule still bears the stamp of Uzbekistan's Soviet past. The stagnant economy is run along the lines of the planned command system. Public criticism of Karimov is taboo.

International financial organisations have criticised Uzbekistan for a slow pace of reform.

The former Soviet Politburo member and then Uzbek Communist Party chief was elected president in 1991 when Uzbekistan gained independence from Soviet rule. He extended his term in office twice through referendums in 1995 and 2002.

In the previous vote in 2000, he ran against a little-known politician who later admitted to casting his ballot for Karimov.

Karimov says security threats in Central Asia justify his hardline stance in the Muslim country of 27 million people. Critics accuse him of using the perceived Islamist threat as an excuse to crack down on political dissent.

"You have to use some authoritarian methods at times," he said after voting in a referendum to extend his term in 2002.

"We must take (from the West) only what suits us, keeping in mind thousands of years of history and our national mentality."

The son of a Tajik mother and Uzbek father, Karimov is married with two daughters. One of his daughters, Gulnara, has accumulated vast wealth and influence and is sometimes tipped as his possible successor. (Writing by Maria Golovnina, editing by Andrew Roche)

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