The 'nana bunch

The gold-plated statue of Turkmenistan's late leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, has been removed from its giant plinth in the capital, Ashgabat.

President (deep breath) Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who took power after the strongman's death in 2006, gave the order to remove the monument in January.

The rotation of the statue, which always faced the sun, was stopped several weeks ago.

On Wednesday it was removed and workers are now tackling the huge tripod base.

The fifty-foot statue and its 75m marble-covered plinth - called the Arch of Neutrality - were seen as representative of the excesses of Mr Niyazov.

The self-styled "Turkmenbashi" - meaning the father of all Turkmen - established a comprehensive personality cult.

Streets, cities and months were named after him and his family, and portraits of him hung across the country.

Since his death his successor, Mr Berdymukhamedov, has overseen efforts to remove the most prominent reminders of the late leader, up to and including the enormous gold statue.