The body of former Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, who died last year, has been stolen from its grave. Cypriot television reports that the grave robbers struck during the night, ahead of Saturday's memorial ceremony to mark the anniversary of the late president's death.

Mr Papadopoulos's party DIKO has issued an outraged response to what it called a heinous crime, while the leader of the ruling Communist party AKEL, Andros Kyprianou, said he was left speechless by such a terrible deed.

Tassos Papadopoulos was president of Cyprus from 2003 to 2008. In 2004 he called on his supporters to vote against a UN plan to reunite the Greek and Turkish administered parts of Cyprus. The plan subsequently failed to attract sufficient backing.