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Nov 24, 2008, 12:24 GMT

Putin likens Georgian leader to Stalin (Extra)

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin likened Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin on Monday, Russian news agencies said. Tensions between the two countries have been high ever since they had a five-day war in August over Georgia's separatist regions. The former Kremlin head said Saakashvili had followed Stalinistic principles in the summer conflict, intentionally attacking, removing and killing civilians in an effort to reassert control over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. 'The Georgian government tried to solve its problem of territorial integrity by a Stalinist principle notorious in our country: No people, no problem,' Putin was quoted by Interfax as saying at a forum on humanitarian issues in St Petersburg. Putin and Saakashvili, both boisterous politicians, have been trading jibes long before the war. But the comments were bound to draw attention after Putin, known for his colourful and often crude speeches, allegedly threatened to hang Saakashvili 'by the balls' in comments to French President Sarkozy. Stalin was born in Gori, in Georgia, which was occupied after the war by Russia. Stalin ruled the Soviet Union after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924. Millions of citizens died in the forced resettlement and labour camps he sponsored.

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