Jan. 12




ENGLAND:

UK's Harry 'Should Visit Auschwitz' in Nazi Row


A leading Jewish rights group demanded
on Thursday that Britain's Prince Harry go to Auschwitz to
atone for wearing a Nazi uniform at a party just two weeks
before the 60th anniversary of the death camp's liberation.


The 20-year-old grandson of Queen Elizabeth has apologized
for wearing a swastika armband and an army shirt with Nazi
regalia at a costume party on Saturday, but rights groups
and politicians said he should do more.

``This was a shameful act displaying insensitivity for the
victims, not just for those soldiers of his own country who
gave their lives to defeat Nazism but to the victims of the
Holocaust ..,'' said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the
U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.

He added in a statement: ``We strongly urge Prince Harry to
accompany the British delegation on January 27th to the
Auschwitz death camp to commemorate 60 years since
liberation. There he will see the results of the hated
symbol he so foolishly and brazenly chose to wear.''

The Nazis murdered six million Jews and millions of others
including Poles, homosexuals, Soviet prisoners and Gypsies.
Millions more were imprisoned or forced to work as slaves.

Photographs of the younger son of the late Princess Diana
and heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles in Nazi attire
appeared in the Sun newspaper in Britain, as well as in
Israeli papers and on Web sites around the world.

Harry, third in line to the throne, said in a statement he
was sorry if he had caused any offence. ``It was a poor
choice of costume and I apologize,'' he said.

``INTOLERABLE''

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair
said: ``Clearly an error was made, that has been recognized
by Prince Harry and it's better that this matter is dealt
with byPalace.''

But Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was less
sympathetic, saying the use of Nazi symbols was
intolerable.

``I think anybody who tries to pass it off as bad taste
must be made aware that this can encourage others to think
that perhaps that period was not as bad as we teach the
young generation in the free world,'' he told reporters.

Conservative opposition leader Michael Howard, who is
Jewish, told BBC Radio: ``It would be appropriate if we
heard from him in person about how contrite he is.''

The picture of Harry in his Nazi outfit showed him with a
drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Royal commentator Robert Lacey said he was just ``a messed
up kid'' and should be left alone. ``He clearly got it
wrong. It is a very fine line and Harry stepped over it.
But he has apologized and we have to move on,'' he told
Reuters.

Former armed forces minister Doug Henderson was quoted as
saying the picture showed the prince was ``not suitable''
for the army.

Harry, who is due to train at the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst this year, has earned a reputation as a royal
``wild child'' and has admitted smoking cannabis and
underage drinking.

After being left alone by the British media for several
years following the death of his mother in a Paris car
crash in 1997, Harry has lately been widely criticized.

Last October, he scuffled with photographers outside a
London nightclub. He has also been forced to deny claims he
cheated in a school exam.

The queen is descended from Germany's House of Saxe-Coburg
Gotha, although the royal family dropped the name in favor
of Windsor during World War One.

(source: Reuters)



*************************


Prince Harry Draws Fire From Jewish Groups


Jewish groups and lawmakers in Britain
criticized the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday
for wearing a Nazi soldier's uniform to a fancy dress
party.

Prince Harry, the second son of Prince Charles and the late
Princess Diana, apologized in a statement after a British
newspaper printed a picture of him clutching a cigarette
and a drink and wearing a swastika armband.

``I think a lot of people will be disappointed to see that
photograph and it will cause a lot of offense,'' said
Michael Howard, leader of Britain's main opposition
Conservative Party.

``I think it might be appropriate for him to tell us
himself just how contrite he now is,'' added Howard, who is
Jewish. He didn't specify how he thought the prince should
make the apology.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke, however, said he was
satisfied with Harry's statement. ``He's apologized and I
think we should leave the matter there,'' he told British
Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The picture of the 20-year-old prince appeared in The Sun
newspaper.

In a statement, Harry said he was ``very sorry if I caused
any offense or embarrassment to anyone.''

``It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize,'' he
added.

Jewish groups reacted swiftly to the incident.

``The fact that the palace has issued an apology indicates
that this was a mistake by the prince,'' said Rabbi
Jonathan Romain, a spokesman for the Reform Synagogues of
Great Britain. ``But having being given, the apology should
now be accepted.''

A spokesman for the Board Of Deputies Of British Jews said
the costume ``was clearly in bad taste, especially in the
run-up to Holocaust Memorial Day'' on Jan. 27. But he
added: ``The board is pleased that he's apologized for the
incident.''

The queen will commemorate the Holocaust and 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by inviting
survivors of the Nazi death camps and British World War II
veterans who liberated them to a reception at St. James'
Palace.

Harry, who plans to enroll this year at a military college,
has long been known as the wilder of Charles and Diana's
two handsome sons, in contrast to his university-student
brother Prince William, 22.

Harry, third in line to the throne, has been photographed
drinking in London's trendiest nightclubs and three years
ago was sent by his father to observe a drug rehabilitation
center after being caught smoking marijuana. In October he
scuffled with a paparazzi photographer outside a London
nightclub.

A former Buckingham Palace spokesman said he believed
Prince Charles was too easy on his sons.

``I'm sorry, the Prince of Wales, he's a humanitarian and
he does some terrific work, but I don't think he has ...
the right discipline over his children, particularly Prince
Harry,'' Dickie Arbiter told Sky News TV.

Harry is due to start training to become an army officer at
the elite Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst later this
year.

But a former armed forces minister said he thought the
prince's application to join Sandhurst should be withdrawn
following the costume incident.

``I don't think this young man is suitable for Sandhurst,''
said Doug Henderson, a lawmaker in the governing Labour
Party. ``If it was anyone else the application wouldn't be
considered. It should be withdrawn immediately.''

(source: Associated Press)