Russian woman sues Ford for profits of slave labour during WW2

A Russian-born Belgian woman is suing the American car manufacturer, Ford, for a share of the profits she alleges it made from slave labour during the Nazi period in Germany.

The woman, Elsa Iwanowa, was abducted from Russia as a teenager and forced to work for the Nazi war machine at Ford's German subsidiary in Cologne.

Her lawyer told a court in the American state ofNew Jersey she was seeking justice for thousands of people forced into the same situation during the Second World War.

In a statement, Ford said the Cologne plant was under Nazi control and not returned to Ford control until after the war.

It promised an inquiry.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service