Nicaragua and Gerhard Schroeder...
| 14:23 UK time, Thursday, 26 October 2006
Not in the same breath, you understand, but we covered the tightening of Nicaragua's abortion laws on today's programme, and Gerhard Schroeder's view of George W. Bush.
Nicaragua's legislature is expected to approve a law that outlaws all forms of abortion, including those procedures intended to save the life of a pregnant mother.
The measure has been supported by most major political parties as they seek to win over voters in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country as it heads into the Nov. 5 presidential election. Leaders of the Catholic Church helped draft the bill and have mobilized followers to support it.
And the former German chancellor tells us he was worried by the US president's religiosity.
Here's one report of what's in the book.
"What bothered me, and in a certain way made me suspicious despite the relaxed atmosphere, was again and again in our discussions how much this President described himself as 'God-fearing,"' Schroeder wrote, adding he is a firm believer in the separation of church and state.
"We rightly criticise that in most Islamic states, the role of religion for society and the character of the rule of law are not clearly separated," Schroeder wrote.
"But we fail to recognise that in the USA, the Christian fundamentalists and their interpretation of the Bible have similar tendencies."
Your comments, please
And is there any connection between the two stories?
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