UNESCO renames Auschwitz death camp

WELLINGTON: The UN cultural watchdog updated its name for the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland yesterday to reflect its German Nazi role, and designated a Shi'ite holy city in Iraq where mosques have come under attack a world cultural treasure.

The Sydney Opera House was also named a world cultural site yesterday, along with the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine in Japan, Parthian Fortresses of Nisa in Turkmenistan, and The Red Fort Complex in Delhi, India, said Roni Amelan, a spokesman for UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

Auschwitz will now be known as "Auschwitz-Birkenau. German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)," Amelan said.