Klan 'church bomber' faces tests

A judge in the US state of Alabama has ordered that a former member of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan, who is on trial for the murder of four black girls nearly 40 years ago, should undergo additional tests to see if he is fit to stand trial.

Last month the court ruled that Bobby Frank Cherry was not mentally competent to be tried for the bombing of a church in the city of Birmingham, in which the girls were killed.

Black leaders condemned the decision, saying that if Mr Cherry had been black and had been accused of killing four white girls he would already have been convicted.

Prosecutors say they will continue challenging the claim that Mr Cherry, who is now 72, suffers from dementia.

Four men - including Mr Cherry - were identified as suspects in the bombing; two are dead and another is already in prison.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service