Josef Stalin's home town takes down statue in the night

A Georgian city has torn down a statue of Joseph Stalin to make way for a memorial for the country's war with Russia in 2008.

The six-metre bronze statue in the Soviet leader's birthplace of Gori was removed in the middle of the night, according to reports.

Police were said to have tried to prevent reporters from filming its removal.

"It was very unexpected. I think many people will be very angry," said local journalist Lado Bichashvili.

The statue, which had stood in central Gori since the early Fifties, will be moved to a Stalin museum, said the head of the city council, Zviad Khmaladze.

"A new monument dedicated to victims of the Russian aggression will be erected" in the central square, said Mr Khmaladze.

Gori was bombed by Russian forces and occupied during the five-day conflict in August two years ago.

The statue was one of the few left standing in the former Soviet Union. After Georgia gained independence in 1991 crowds tore down statues of Stalin and Lenin, but Gori residents refused to let their monument be touched.