Grave Robbery

Grave robbers have stolen the body of Tassos Papadopoulos the former president of the Republic of Cyprus a year after his death. Witnesses at the Deftera cemetery where he had been buried said the coffin had been opened and the grave left empty and that scores of police officers were investigating the crime scene. “A police spokesman, Michalis Katsounotos, said investigators believe the body was taken either late on Thursday night or early Friday morning. The motive was unclear. Papadopoulos died a year ago on Saturday from lung cancer, aged 74. He served as president from 2003 until March 2008. He had led Greek Cypriot rejection of a United Nations reunification blueprint for ethnically divided Cyprus in 2004.