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Moscow, Feb 16: The mummified corpse of ex-Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin could remain on display in his tomb on Red Square for another 100 years, if no decision to remove it is taken, one of its curators has said. 

Yuri Denisov-Nikolsky, who takes care of the corpse, has said that if the body "receives proper care it could remain in the mausoleum for another 100 years".

The mausoleum's continuing presence in the heart of Moscow has been a source of considerable controversy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Demands to transfer the body of the architect of the 1917 Russian Revolution to a regular cemetery have been countered by Russian Communists, who insist that the tomb in Red Square remain the Soviet leader's final resting place.

Lenin's mausoleum, a major tourist attraction in Moscow, closes every year-and-a-half for restoration work, which usually last for some six weeks. This year, the work will be carried out from February 18 until April 15.

Lenin's body, with its face uncovered, has been on public display in a glass coffin since his death in 1924.

Another expert, professor Valery Bykov, said modern technology would allow the body to be kept in good condition for many years to come. "We believe the body can be maintained for an extremely long period," he said.