Brigitte Boisselier, a former French research chemist belonging to Raelians, a religious group which believes first humans on Earth were created 25,000 years ago by extra-terrestrials who cloned themselves, said the baby would return to home with her family.

Once at home, it was possible for an independent expert to do DNA testing to prove whether the baby is indeed a clone, said Boisselier, chief executive of the cult's biotech company, Clonaid,which is responsible for the creation of Eve.

"On Monday if a sample is taken, perhaps by the end of the week

or early next week we should have all the details," she said.

Boisselier declined to reveal further details of where the baby was born and to which US city the mother and the girl would travel, saying keeping secrecy was necessary to protect the child and the family.

She stunned the world last Friday by announcing that Eve, a 3.13-kilogram baby girl, was cloned from skin cells taken from a 31-year-old US woman.

At the press conference announcing the birth of "Eve" in Florida, the United States, Boisselier provided no scientific evidence or any picture of the mother and the child.

Many scientists are skeptical of the claim, which has provoked worldwide condemnation, and some even doubt the existence of Eve. Boisselier's cult background increases the skepticism of mainstream scientists.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2002)