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'Durban II' is being discredited, Pakistan warns
Pakistan accused UN watchdog groups on Monday of launching a "smear campaign" to discredit the upcoming 2009 UN anti-racism conference. The vitriolic attacks against Jews and Israel that dominated the last such conference held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, had caused UN watchdog groups as well as officials from Israel and the US to express early concern about the 2009 follow up meeting, dubbed "Durban II." The watchdog groups have warned that the seeds of a repeat performance have already been sown. But Pakistan's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Masood Khan, dismissed those fears as he addressed the opening session Monday of the week long pre-planning meeting held in Geneva. "How to deal with the smear campaign against the Durban Review Conference," designed to discredit the past and future work on these issues is one of the challenges facing this week's meeting, Khan said. "The PrepCom leadership and members should stay the course and not be distracted by negative propaganda," Khan said as he spoke to a gathering in which all 192 UN member countries have voting rights. Israel and the US were present but have chosen to keep a low profile at this week's meeting out of fear that it would stray from its lofty goals of combating racism. Hillel Neuer, executive-director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, told The Jerusalem Post he viewed Pakistan's statement as a direct attack. "They are trying to intimidate us from speaking truth to power." He added, "We will not be intimidated." Posted by: Fred 2007-08-29 |
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