UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan urged the United States today to attend an upcoming racism conference even though Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell is boycotting it.
The State Department said yesterday Mr Powell will not attend the conference, which starts on Friday in South Africa, due to concerns about "offensive" anti-Israel language in the programme.
Mr Annan said he hoped Washington would be represented in Durban. "I hope the US will participate and that they will come and sit with other governments," he said.
"We are going to discuss an issue that touches every society and every country. No country is immune from racism and xenophobia," he said.
But Mr Annan refused to directly criticise Mr Powell's decision not to attend the Durban meeting. "The decision to participate or not participate and whom to send is a sovereign right of each country," he said.
A lower-level US delegation could be sent, although even that was definite. "The exact nature and level of our representation, if any, is still being considered," said spokesman Mr Richard Boucher in Washington.
AFP