Historian Pleads Guilty To Holocaust Denial

David Irving arriving in court in Vienna today (epa) 20 February 2006 -- British historian David Irving pleaded guilty to criminal charges of denying the Jewish Holocaust and conceded he erred in contending there were no Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz.

He made the remarks as his trial opened today in the Austrian capital Vienna.

Irving said he now acknowledges that the Nazis systematically slaughtered Jews during World War II.

He has been in custody since his arrest in November on charges stemming from two speeches he gave in Austria in 1989, in which critics claimed he denied the Nazi extermination of some 6 million Jews.

A verdict is expected later today. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Irving had tried to win his provisional release on $24,000 in bail. But a Vienna court refused, saying there was a risk he would try to leave the country.

(AP, Reuters)