December 15, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 10, 1423

BELGRADE, Dec 14: The world’s first cloned baby will be born in Belgrade in January, controversial Italian gynaecologist Severino Antinori said in an interview in the Serbian weekly Nin.

“I think we have made a revolution in the field of genetics and Serbia will be one of three countries which will go down in history,” Antinori was quoted as saying.

“When the time comes you will be informed about the birth and the family,” said the doctor, who spent the past week in Belgrade for a seminar on sterilization and artificial insemination.

The paper, which said it followed Antinori’s movements during his stay in Belgrade, said it followed him to the private Belgrade artificial insemination clinic Papic.

Antinori declined to confirm if the cloned baby would be born at the Papic clinic.

Last month Antinori told journalists the woman’s pregnancy was progressing normally, and the male fetus was healthy and had “more than a 90 chance” of being born.

The doctor, who first announced the pregnancies in April, insisted he had not carried out the procedure himself, and that his involvement was merely “cultural and scientific”.

A international group of about 20 specialists including Antinori and American doctor Panos Zavos announced in January of last year they intended to clone a human being in order to help sterile couples have children.—AFP