Rustam Inoyatov

Rustam Rasulovich Inoyatov (Рустам Расулович Иноятов, born 22 June 1944) is an Uzbek government official, as well as a colonel general, acting as the head of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan (SNB) since 1995. He was said to have been part of the Tashkent clan, a powerful faction within the Uzbek elite. Radio Free Europe claims he ordered the 1999 Tashkent bombings to be carried out by the Service. He is said to be one of the most powerful men in the country.

Early life
Inoyatov was born June 22, 1944, to Rasul Inoyatov, a colonel in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic's KGB, being part of an influential family. He graduated from the School of Eastern Studies in 1968. Inoyatov learned English and Persian, becoming one of the heads of the Tashkent clan.

Rise to power
In 1995, the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, gave him the position of chief of the SNB as a counter weight to his rival's power, Zokir Almatov, the Minister of Internal Affairs. Under Inoyatov's leadership, the SNB rose to power over the rival MVD of Almatov. By 1999, they had more power and funding than the MVD. Radio Free Europe suggests that the 1999 bombings in Tashkent were carried out by the SNB under Inyatov's orders.

Both Inoyatov and his rival thought of committing a coup d'état against Karimov around 2004 and 2005. In the beginning of 2005, Inoyatov was given control of the customs service and the border guard. He was one of the eight Uzbek officials blacklisted by the European Union.

He is very shy of publicity, and there is only one known photograph of him in the last ten years when he visited China in 2014. He is widely thought to be the kingmaker when Islam Karimov died.

Inoyatov was dismissed by Shavkat Mirziyoyev on January 31, 2018.