Niyazov, a president-for-life, has given himself the title of Turkmen father.

ASHGABAT,  Turkmenistan , 27 August 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Adding to the personality cult surrounding him,   Turkmenistan ’s idiosyncratic President Saparmurat Niyazov has rocketed his controversial self-glorifying book into space.

Part One of the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul) was blasted off on a Russian Dnepr booster rocket from Kazakhstan 's Baykonur launch site, the BBC News Online reported Saturday, August 27.

"The book that conquered the hearts of millions on Earth is now conquering space," said an article in the official Neitralny Turkmenistan newspaper.

The container, which also included a Turkmen flag and presidential standard, was launched as part of a mission to place two Japanese research satellites in orbit.

The controversial book is an obligatory textbook in addition to other works and speeches by the 65-year-old Niyazov.

It is studied daily in Turkmen schools and adults are obliged to read it every Saturday.

The book is a mixture of revisionist history and moral guidelines and intended as a spiritual guidance for the nation and the basis of its arts and literature.

President for Life

Niyazov’s statues are almost everywhere in Turkmenistan .

After supporting the collapse of the Soviet rule in 1991, Niyazov became the country's first president.

In 1993, he named himself Turkmenbashi, meaning "Leader of all Ethnic Turkmens".

In 1999, the parliament proclaimed Niyazov President for Life.

He renamed towns, schools, airports and even a meteorite after himself and his immediate family.

He also named the months of the year after his family members. April turned to "Qurban Sultan", his mother, and May to "Atamurat", his father.

His face appears on all banknotes and his portraits hang all over the country, especially on major public buildings and avenues.

Statues of Niyazov and his mother are scattered all over Turkmenistan .

He had further demanded that his own words be inscribed on a mosque built outside the capital Ashgabat.

Although possessing possibly the fourth largest gas reserves in the world and substantial oil deposits, Turkmenistan has a rate of poverty hitting 58 percent of its mostly Muslim six-million population.