S.Africa Will Try to Avert U.S. Boycott of Racism Conference
JOHANNESBURG, July 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Pretoria government on Saturday said it would try to avert a threatened boycott by the United States of a U.N. conference on racism to be held in South Africa next month.
Washington has signaled that it would not attend the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance if its agenda includes talk of reparations for slavery and colonialism or a measure equating Zionism with racism.
President George W. Bush's spokesman on Friday warned: "The conference should not equate Zionism with racism or take up the reparations matter. And if they do, the United States will not go."
Foreign ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said South Africa, the conference host, was hopeful that consensus would be reached on the two divisive issues at a final preparatory meeting that begins in Geneva on Monday.
He said the failure at the previous round of preparatory talks to reach agreement "will spur us on to find a solution to find common ground."
Mamoepa added that South African diplomats had experience in consensus seeking and would attempt to couch resolutions in language that would be acceptable to all.
South Africa is sending Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and foreign affairs director general Sipho Pityana to the Geneva meeting.
Washington skipped the two previous U.N. conferences against racism, in 1978 and 1983, because of the Zionism clause.
Britain, France and Germany have also objected to slavery being addressed at this year's conference, saying it was too complicated.
The chairman of the South African Human Rights Commission, Barney Pityana, on Saturday said the United States was wrong to threaten to withdraw from the conference.
"It will be extremely unfortunate for the U.S. to pull out. It will be unfortunate and unacceptable as it will be saying to the world community 'we don't want you to discuss things we don't like'," he told SABC public radio.
The negotiations in Geneva on a draft declaration and program of action to be adopted at the end of the conference are set to run until August 10.
The conference will take place in South Africa's east coast city of Durban from August 31 to September 7. About 30 to 35 heads of state, 160 foreign ministers and delegations from 194 countries are expected to attend.
