GENEVA (AP) - The United Nations is bracing for a major anti-racism conference here opening next week at its European headquarters, with concerns rife that it may descend once again into clashes over Israel that marred the last conference in South Africa eight years ago.
Already one head of state’s plans to visit have raised fears of verbal fireworks: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad _ who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and denied the Holocaust _ is slated to speak Monday as the conference opens.
With just two days left before the start of the five-day meeting, the United States and the European Union on Friday had not yet decided whether to attend or go through with threats to boycott over Islamic nations’ demands to condemn Israel and call for a ban on defaming religion.
Many Muslim nations want curbs to free speech to prevent insults to Islam they claim have proliferated since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Riots erupted across the Muslim world after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.
The Geneva meeting is ostensibly designed to review progress in fighting racism since the United Nations’ first such conference eight years ago in Durban, South Africa.
That 2001 meeting, which ended four days before 9/11, was dominated by quarrels over the Middle East and the legacy of slavery. Several delegates condemned Israel and anti-Israel demonstrations broke out at a parallel conference of non-governmental organizations.
The United States and Israel walked out midway through the Durban conference over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism _ the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state in the Holy Land _ to racism.
Those references were removed from the final declaration, though it did cite “the plight of the Palestinians” as an issue and recognized Israel’s right to security.
Informal negotiations on a draft document for this year’s conference have proven difficult, with many of the 2001 issues _ such as criticism of Israel _ re-emerging.
Israel and Canada have already said they won’t attend the meeting over concerns about a possible repeat of verbal attacks on the Jewish state. The U.S. and the 27-nation EU have threatened to boycott unless Muslim countries back down from demands to condemn Israel and limit free speech.
Direct references to Israel and to defamation of religion were dropped from the draft last month, but there is pressure from Muslim countries to reinsert them.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Friday that negotiations had progressed from an initial text containing inflammatory language and curbing free speech to a new document focusing on the fight against racism and overcoming the controversies of the 2001 meeting.
“The new document sends a very clear message that there is no international consensus on the issue of defamation of religion,” said Juliette de Rivero, director of the group’s Geneva office.
Still, on Friday, some sticking points remained that could unravel the conference, such as Iran’s objection to a paragraph stating that the Holocaust must never be forgotten.
“There are still issues which remain and these are being discussed,” said U.N. spokesman Ramu Damodaran.
Western nations remained reluctant Friday to commit until they have a better idea of what the document will say.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said in Berlin that there has been no decision yet on whether Germany and other EU countries will participate, and could not say when one would be made.
Thomas Steg, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said “we have not given up hope that it is possible to reach sensible agreements in the coming days and hours.”
He noted that “we have made clear … that we cannot tolerate it if this anti-racism conference is turned into an accusatory event, a one-sided event against the state of Israel.”
The United States said last week it was reconsidering its planned boycott of the conference, but noted that it was still concerned about “restrictions on freedom of expression that could result from some of the document’s language related to ’incitement’ to religious hatred.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the head of the Organization of The Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, will also take part in the opening of the meeting.
Officials from 103 states confirmed their participation, including the presidents of East Timor, Togo and Montenegro, according to the U.N.
Jewish and Muslim lobby groups as well as human rights groups prepared to turn out en masse in Geneva next week. Over 2,500 participants of non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, were expected to be observers at the conference, the U.N. said.
Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel is among the many prominent defenders of Israel who will be present.
Only around a half dozen non-governmental organizations are allowed to speak at the conference itself, said U.N. spokesman Damodaran. Some NGOs will take part in panel discussions and other events on the sidelines of the meeting, he added. The rest of them have set up a number of demonstrations and meetings outside the United Nations.
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Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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