Chirac heckled as critics slam EU on Aids

The European Union defended its record on funding a global scheme to fight Aids as angry protesters heckled French President Jacques Chirac at an international conference on the disease yesterday.

European Commission President Romano Prodi said he remained personally "very keen" on the target of raising Europe's contribution to one billion euros a year, but admitted the EU had moved slowly.

"Sometimes we are like the tortoise in the fable, advancing one step at a time. But like the tortoise we get there in the end," he said.

Donors to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which faces an estimated shortfall of some $400 million this year, ended talks with no major pledges of new funds.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela had called on Europe to match the commitment of US President George W. Bush, who in May signed into law a plan to triple Aids funding over five years to $15 billion.

This includes up to $1 billion a year for the Global Fund - launched early last year at the urging of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan - as long as the US contribution does not exceed more than one third of the total.