Baby clone 'due in Japan soon'

The Raelian sect believes humans were cloned by aliens

The sect which claimed to have produced two human clones now says a third cloned baby will be born in Japan on Monday.

Clonaid president Brigitte Boisselier told the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) that the baby was cloned with cells taken from a two-year-old boy who died in a car accident.

Dr Boisselier says she implanted five cloned embryos

She did not say where the baby would be born.

Neither of the two previous births has been confirmed by independent scientists and Clonaid's claims have met with widespread scepticism.

The company is funded by the Raelian sect, which believes humans were cloned from aliens.

In 2000, Japan outlawed human cloning, making it punishable by up 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 10 million yen ($85,000 dollars).

Earlier this month a US court ordered Clonaid to reveal the whereabouts of the first alleged cloned human - a baby girl - and her mother.

The company said the mother was a 31-year-old American, whose husband was infertile.

But Clonaid said that the parents of baby Eve were reluctant to have the DNA tests as they could be obliged by law to reveal their identity.

Dr Boisselier says she has implanted cloned embryos in five women, two of whom have now given birth.