10 SEPTEMBER 2005, Page 22

Today’s Tamerlane

From Justin Marozzi Sir: You say that in the mass murderer stakes Tamburlaine, or Tamerlane, ‘comes a long way behind’ Lenin (Diary, 3 September). I’m not so sure. In many ways, the Tatar warlord — who used to bury people alive in cement and slice ambassadors in half and was famously inventive in the torture and mass bloodshed stakes — makes Lenin look like a squeamish cissy.

As for President Islam Karimov, who likes to compare himself favourably to Tamerlane, we must hope his days are numbered. He has inflicted untold damage on Uzbekistan since the country’s independence in 1991, and the West should have nothing to do with him. Justin Marozzi

London NW3