ISLAMIC ORGANIZATION RECOMMENDS HUMAN CLONING BAN

June 18, 1997

CASABLANCA (Reuter) - A meeting of Islamic religious experts and scholars urged Muslim countries Tuesday to ban human cloning but to allow the process to be used for animals and plants.

A spokesman for the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), which sponsored a four-day forum of delegates from 12 countries, told the closing session: "The symposium recommends the ban of normal human cloning unless exceptional cases occur in future which will then require the Sharia (Islamic law) permission."

The Religious and Medical Symposium, co-sponsored by ISESCO, in Casablanca issued a series of recommendations related to the "Islamic view on modern medical issues, including human cloning."

Among these was a call for ISESCO members to follow up human cloning, scientific findings and to meet "to determine the Sharia view on these issues." The Casablanca meeting said it agreed on the principle of "cloning techniquess and genetic engineering in the field of animals and plants."

Earlier, ISESCO director-general Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri of Saudi Arabia called on delegates to find a "religious-and-science based Islamic perception" to give guidance on the issue of human cloning. He said the ever-accelerating pace and acute competition among scientific researchers provided "evidence that science is treading an unsafe path and evolving toward immoral objectives."

The Casablanca meeting urged Islamic governments "to draw up the necessary legislation to close doors directly and indirectly in the face of foreign research institutions and experts to stop them using Islamic countries as a field for human cloning experiments and its publicity."

According to an Egyptian delegate, some ISESCO members during the four-day discussions would not discuss the cloning issue because "it was not mentioned by the holy (Muslim) Koran."

Others were more flexible and wanted to see science pursue its experiments on animals and plants before taking a final stand, he said.

The Casablanca recommendations are not considered as a final "fatwa" -- religious ruling -- nor a final scientific opinion. ISESCO is joining the world community in moving toward setting up rules for scientific research in the field of genetic engineering, including human cloning, the organization said. The organization is a cultural arm of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.