Islamists try to block UN conference

CAIRO (Reuter) - Islamist lawyers said they had gone to court to block what they call a sinful UN population conference from being held in Cairo from 5 September. Abdel-Halim Ramadan, 70, head of an Islamic religious society, said he filed the lawsuit against President Hosni Mubarak and other leaders asking them to withdraw Cairo as the venue.

'The UN document contains things that are immoral and corrupt to the mind. These corrupt ideas contradict not only Islam but Christianity and Judaism,' he said. A UN draft document calls for family planning and economic development and aims at stabilising world population at 7.8 billion by the year 2050.