DURBAN--European Union, South
African and Arab officials worked late into the
night on Wednesday in a bid to prevent further
walkouts and save the UN Conference on Racism
from failure that would be embarrassing for the
world body.
In Paris, French Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin said in widely reported remarks that France
and its European partners in the 15-nation EU, along
with 13 candidate members of the world's biggest trading
bloc, may follow the United States and Israel who walked
out on Monday if language naming Israel for ``racist
policies'' remained in the text of the conference draft.
Earlier, EU officials insisted to this newspaper that
the EU nations were united, and that if one nation
withdrew, all could withdraw.
Although South African and EU officials in Durban
insisted there were no plans to withdraw because
a shorter, text with controversial references to
Israel had been withdrawn, government working committees
drawn from the 160 nations represented in Durban
were still reviewing it. The EU set a deadline
for Wednesday to give its member governments a
chance to evaluate the new text. EU officials in
Durban told Conference News Daily a decision on
how they will proceed would be announced once the
evaluation was completed. They expected that decision
either late Wednesday or on Thursday.
Officials also insisted that differences on the
other controversial aspect of the conference -
the legacy of slavery and reparations - were not
so divergent as to scuttle the conference.
After an EU spokesman in Durban warned Tuesday
of a possible EU walkout following the evaluation,
French Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jean-Jack
Queyranne, said Jospin had also raised the issue
at the weekly French cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
A decision on a walkout could be taken ``in the
next few hours,'' Queyranne added without giving
further details.
"France and the European Union would seek
a departure from this conference, which would mark
a failure," Jospin was quoted as telling the
cabinet.
Queyranne also
quoted Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin
as saying a walkout by France and its
EU partners "would mean a failure with international
consequences at the United Nations in relations
between developing countries and Western countries".
However, in Durban, EU spokesman Koen Vervaeke
said: "There is no question of pulling out
at this stage. No member state has called for it.
All we can say at the moment is that there has
been some progress, but work is continuing.'' A
British spokesman told this newspaper late Wedneaday
that the negotiating in Durban remained "very
difficult".
In a measure of
how tense the talks have become, Amr Mousa, Secretary-General
of the Arab League,
said a final declaration would be "meaningless''
without specific references to Israeli policies
toward the Palestinians.
In the toughest
sticking point, Israel is the only nation singled
out in the original draft for
condemnation. The language to which the EU objected
included phrases such as "racist practice
of Zionism,'' and mention of the Jewish state being
founded in "on racial superiority".
The EU delegation
in Durban, led by Louis Michel, the Belgian foreign
minister who is serving as
president of the Council of Europe, was at pains
to say it was committed to making progress on the
section of the declaration that deals with the
Middle East. If progress was not made, nations
objecting could stay. "They can reject specific
sections of the declaration and accepting the rest," a
European diplomat said. Putting a brave face on
the proceedings, Aziz Pahad, South Africa's deputy
foreign minister said: "There has been lots
speculation. But that misses the point - complexity
warrants discussion. Much has been achieved and
approved on many aspects of the draft. We have
already agreed to make the 21st century a century
of human rights. We have two committees now dealing
with the Middle East and slavery and they are working
on progress."
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