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Whaling Commission dominated by bitter debate

The last day of the International Whaling Commission meeting in Japan, has been dominated by bitter debate and accusations of manipulation.

New Zealand's Conservation Minister Sandra Lee has attacked the Solomon Islands, among other countries, after a vote to support whaling quotas for indigenous Alaskans and Siberians failed to get the required majority at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Japan.

Ms Lee says she was "astounded" that Japan and its pro-whaling supporters from the Caribbean and the Pacific voted to block a quota for bowhead whales to meet the subsistence needs of the indigenous peoples of Alaska and Siberia.

Mark Simkin reports from Shiminoseki.

Today's furore follows a decision of Japan backed by Carribean countries to continue to deny special whaling permits to the native people of Siberria and Alaska. This morning Russia accused the Carribean nations of being manipulated. They responded angrily saying they were sick of being called prostitutes and the lap dogs of Japan. One representative declared that the IWC was now dominated by mistrust and deceit.

24/05/2002 20:41:01 | ABC Radio Australia News

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