CAIRO. Sept 8: The first abortion battle at the UN popu lation conference shown that Western nations can make a deal with Muslima — but not the Vatican and its staunchest allies, reports AP.

Abortion has proven so contentious that delegates negotl atlng a 20-year plan to slow world population growth assigned it to a special commit tee. It will report back by Fnd^

The main committee took up the less troublesome issue of finance Thursday. W A Meier, an adviser to the New Zealand delegation, said mem bees were holding to the draft plan s target of 17 billion dollars in spending In the year 2000 to finance the blueprint

He said they were still

quibbling about how the funds would be allocated among categories such as family plan ning. .AIDS .prevention, research ano reproductive health.

The abortion debate se vealed growing anger among many delegates at the Vatican's domination of the conference with abortion, which most governments consider peripheral to the real Issues of population and development.

In the most visible example, some delegates groaned and booed when the Holy See's representative stood up to oppose compromise language on how to deal with unsafe abor tlon

"I think the Vatican is try Ing to hijack" the conference said Naomi Wanyaina. Uganda s

undersecretary of finance and Its representative on the negotiating committee.

Former US congresswoman Bella Abzug. a member of the US delegation, said: "1 don't think one religion should come into an International conference... and hold up its procedures."

Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. one of two women leaders at the conference. said she feared family planning goals would become meaningless amid all the compromise going on to satisfy the Vatican.

I tried to put up the stop sign, on behalf of the women of the world," she said in an Interview with The Associated Press,

Her alm. she said, was to

halt attempts to waler down the reality of unsafe abortions." and to block efforts lo limit access to family planning in formation and contraceptives

Brundtland's hard-hitting, no nonsense speech at Monday's opening session stole the show and energised women's rights activists

On Thursday, the leader of the Iranian delegation Mohammed All Taskhlrl, spoke before the conference and called on Brundtland to withdraw one sentence in her opening statement "In which she attacked religious beliefs."

He did not specify the sentence. but Brundtland spoke about religion being an obsta cle to family planning on the basis of morality and then added

"Morality becomes hypocrisy If It means accepting mothers suffering og dying tn connection with unwanted pregnanciea and Illegal abortion.'

Despite the furious debate, no country will have to put Into practice the recommendations Ixrlng fashioned at the 182-na tlon meeting. The Programme of Action Is not binding.

A paragraph on unsafe abor tlon places priority on making family planning available to re duce abortion*. It says abortion should not be encouraged as a method of faintly planning and Its legality should lx Id! to Individual countries. It also says women with unwanted pregnancies must be treated conMseionaUly. not punitively