The People's Council of 2,500 elected and appointed deputies also passed a new law on presidential elections that said candidates must be a Turkmen-born citizen not younger than 40 and not older than 70 years and must have been a permanent resident of the country for at least 10 years before running for president, the Novosti news agency reported.

That closes the door for many of Niyazov's political opponents, most of whom fled the country to avoid arrest during the 21years of his authoritarian rule.

The first apparent candidate emerged Tuesday as dentist Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, 49, who became minister of health and medicine in 1997 and a deputy prime minister in 2001.

Niyazov died of heart failure last Thursday at the age of 66. United Press International

/The Washington Times/