UN conference split over women's rights

Delegates at a United Nations conference on women's rights met into the early hours in New York without reaching agreement on a closing statement to be issued at the end of the week-long meeting.

Western pressure groups have accused the Vatican, and several Roman Catholic and Islamic states of preventing consensus on issues including abortion and violence against women.

They fear that conservative governments are trying to water-down commitments agreed at the international conference on women in Beijing five years ago.

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged delegates to co-operate in ensuring that advances agreed in Beijing are protected and furthered.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service