【每日电讯报】BBC to pay £1m over Mohamed Taranissi libel battle

Iam_zhcn

BBC to pay £1m over Mohamed Taranissi libel battle
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5477873/BBC-to-pay-1m-over-Mohamed-Taranissi-libel-battle.html

By Urmee Khan Published: 4:22PM BST 08 Jun 2009


Mr Mohamed Taranissi: 'I knew [the BBC] could not defend its position' Photo: PA

The BBC will pay out almost a million pounds following a libel battle over claims made in a Panorama programme about IVF doctor Mohamed Taranissi.

Mr Taranissi, the IVF expert, who is said to have helped mothers give birth to 2,300 babies, accused the programme of making defamatory allegations about his techniques.

The Panorama programme, IVF Uncovered, broadcast in January 2007, sent an undercover reporter to pose as a potential patient.

It has emerged that both sides have come to a settlement.

A BBC spokesman said: "Both parties have agreed to settle and not to continue forward and consider the matter now closed."

A source close to the case said the BBC was not paying any damages to Mr Taranissi, but would cover his legal costs, believed to be around £900,000.

The Corporation's own costs have not been revealed but they are likely to be a six-figure sum.

The High Court had already ordered the BBC to pay an estimated £500,000 of Mr Taranissi's costs last October after it 'threw in the towel' over one part of its defence.

Mr Taranissi has previously been described as the UK's most successful fertility doctor, after his Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre (ARGC) in London topped a league table of success for fertility clinics.

His success rates are higher than any other clinic, with 60 per cent of women patients under 35 giving birth.

The Egyptian-born doctor is estimated to be worth £38 million.

The decision to settle comes just over a week after the broadcaster offered to pay £30,000 and apologise to the Muslim Council of Britain over claims that it encouraged the killing of British troops.