Clonaid ordered to reveal 'clone'

" They [the parents] have been waiting many, many years for this baby to be here and they are very happy that the baby is here "
Thomas Kaenzig, Clonaid's vice president

An executive with the company, Clonaid, was also summoned to appear in court in Florida, after lawyers demanded that the state authorities appoint a guardian for the child.

In the absence of any DNA proof, scientists have dismissed Clonaid's claim that a baby has been cloned.

Clonaid was founded by the Raelian sect which believes humans were cloned by aliens.

Fears

The witness subpoena and summons were approved at the request of attorney Bernard Siegel, who has filed a lawsuit demanding a guardian for baby Eve.

The papers were delivered to Clonaid's vice president Thomas Kaenzig before his public speech in Fort Lauderdale, Mr Siegel told the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Kaenzig - who must appear at the hearing in January - did not make an immediate comment on the papers.

However, he said the baby's parents feared losing her through court action.

"They have been waiting many, many years for this baby to be here and they are very happy that the baby is here," Mr Kaenzig was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Publicity stunt

Last month, Clonaid announced the birth of a baby girl, saying she was cloned from 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.

The company's chief executive, Dr Brigitte Boisselier, has said she had implanted five cloned embryos, two of which have already been born.

Clonaid's claims have been met with widespread scepticism in the scientific community, who have dismissed them as a publicity stunt.