Claims made by a controversial Italian doctor that the first cloned baby could be born at the beginning of January has prompted Germany to renew its support for a U.N.-sponsored worldwide cloning ban.

The demand by the Germany's research minister, and also supported by France, came just a week after disputes between some European countries and the U.S. led to a one-year postponement on debate over a possible ban.

Germany and France support a human cloning ban, but want to allow the cloning of human embryos for stem cell research. Scientists believe such research could go a long way in curing genetic diseases.

Delay will be used to lobby

But conservative governments like the U.S., the Vatican and Spain would like to see cloning categorically banned. U.S. legislators voted last year on a complete ban, including stem cell research.

The differences prompted the UN to delay a debate originally scheduled to take place at the General Assembly in New York on Nov. 19. Now, that debate won’t take place until 2003.

"We will use that time to convince the nations of the world the necessity of such a ban," Germany’s research minister, Edelgard Bulmahn, told the "Rheinische Post" newspaper.

Woman is in her 33rd week with clone

Italian doctor Severino Antinori is once again at the center of the controversy. In a hurried press conference in Rome on Tuesday, Antinori told reporters a woman carrying a cloned baby was in her 33rd week of pregnancy. The fetus, he said, was “in good health.” He said that he was not directly involved with the birth but served as a “consultant.”

Antinori’s announcement drew skepticism from the international scientific community. Many researchers pointed out that Antinori, 55, never subjected any of his work to peer review, so his claims and his capability of creating a cloned baby remain suspect.

“I remain skeptical whether his announcement is really accurate,” Klaus Diedrich, the president of the Germany Society for Gynaecology and Obstetrics told a German wire service.

The Rome-based Antinori has been a controversial figure in the scientific, political and religious communities ever since he helped a 63-year-old woman give birth by implanting a fertilized egg in her uterus in 1994. In 2001, he predicted he would deliver the world’s first cloned baby within a year.

He brushed aside ethical criticisms of his work by saying the benefits of helping childless couples have children far outweighed any other concerns.