Whaling Walkout By Japan

Furious Japanese delegates symbolically walked out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Berlin yesterday after Mexico, joined by Britain and 23 other countries, narrowly forced the commission to extend its role from global whale management to conservation.

"This is the final blow to the already polarised IWC, destroying its raison d'être," said Minoru Morimoto, Japan's whaling commissioner, who threatened to take Japan out of the commission, which has managed whale stocks since 1946.

The WWF, one of the leading campaigners for whales, said: "This is the start of a modern IWC with conservation at its heart. It is not the end of whaling but it is very good news for conservation. We hope that Japan and other countries who voted against the proposal will now calm down and work with the commission."

The whaling countries rejected two proposals for whale sanctuaries.