To many, he is the 14th-century tyrant whose nine-year rampage across Eurasia resulted in a bloodbath that left hundreds of thousands of dead and established a vast empire stretching across modern day Central Asia.But to a nation in need of new heros, Timur is also the almost mythical figure who should be remembered for bringing a lawless society under control, improving trade along the Silk Road and promoting science, culture and the arts, said Azamat Zieyev, a historian who now serves as Uzbek President Islam Karimov's press secretary.

``During the Soviet period, Timur was portrayed unobjectively,'' Zieyev says.Talking on the issue further, Zieyesaid, ``The Soviets showed him only in a bad light, that he was a conqueror.''

Uzbekistan is not alone in its venture tobreak from its Soviet past and create a new national icon.

In neighbouring Kazakhstan a governmental committee is developing suitable national symbols for the new nation and in Turkmenistan the image of President Saparmurat Niyazov graces billboards across the capital, Ashgabad.In the centre of Tashkent, a metropolis of more than two million, Timur's statue points across a tree-shaded square to a showcase of Uzbek propaganda designed for both domestic and foreign consumption the Amir Timur Museum, which Zieyev proudly said was completed in only eight months in 1996.

The story of Timur, also known as Tamerlane, unfolds under the 20-million-dollar museum's azure 70-meter (80-yard) wide dome in a lavish, if not somewhat gaudy, building complete with gold ornamentation, sweeping staircases and a crystal chandelier.

A map on one wall shows Timur's vast empire that stretched North to Moscow, East to China and West to Turkey by the end of the 14th century.The museum's deputy director is Utkur Alimov, anarcheologist who once worked in the ancient city of Samarkand, Timur's burial place and home to the treasures of Timur's architectural legacy.

``I have such a good impression of him as a genius, a leader who thought about his people, who created a huge state and supported science,'' Alimov said.

Ask Uzbeks on the streets about Timur and the ruler gets mixed reviews.Like many up-and-coming young people in the capital, Avas Usupov, a law student from the Ferghana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan, said he values Timur's strength.``He captured 30 countries and to keep them of course he had to fight for them at first, but he also built many buildings in Uzbekistan and developed the culture and art,'' Usupov said.

Nearby, two factory workers of Russian descent aren't so impressed, expressing concern at the rise in Uzbek nationalism that they think the Timur statue represents .

``In the schools they're teaching Uzbek history lessons, including who he was and the people he destroyed,'' said one of the women,dismissing the statue with a brusque wave of her hand and changing the subject to her unpaid wages.

But Zieyev said it is unfair to focus on Timur's dark side when he created orderin a chaotic region.``You can't compare him to Genghis Khan or Napoleon. Why? Because he freed our ancestors from the Mongols and then he started to unite our country,'' he said.

Timur's main accomplishments also are those of modern-day Uzbekistan as it searches for a way to introduce a painless transition to a market economy and tries to encourage foreign trade, Zieyev said.

``He wanted there to be order because without order there won't be trade,'' he said. ``He renewed the Silk Road and connected East with West.''