Ex-Romanian Dictator, Wife Exhumed

Romanians suspect Ceausescus not really buried where thought
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 21, 2010 8:42 AM CDT

The graves of Romania's communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena are dug up amid rumours that the executed couple were buried elsewhere
(Reuters)

Taking the country by surprise, forensic scientists today exhumed what are believed to be the bodies of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife to solve the mystery of where they are truly buried. Ceausescu ruled Romania for 25 years before being ousted and executed during the bloody 1989 anti-communist revolt. Some Romanians, including the couple's children, doubt that the Ceausescus were really buried in the Ghencea military cemetery in west Bucharest.

A team of pathologists and cemetery officials hoisted the wooden caskets of Nicolae and Elena out of their graves today. They then took samples from the corpses and put them into plastic bags before reburying the coffins. "We are closer to knowing the truth," the couple's son Valentin Ceausescu, 62, said. Officials say it will take up to six months to determine the identity of the remains. (More Romania stories.)

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