Countries question attending U.N. racisim conference
The U.N. will be meeting for the first time in eight years on Monday to address global racism, without U.S. ahttp://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-04-19-un-racism_N.htmttendance as while as at least 5 other countries that are boycotting the meeting, according to a report in USA Today.
USA Today reports that the conference is "already experiencing much of the bickering and political infighting" that occurred in 2001 at the last conference in Durban, South Africa that attempted to address similar issues.
Barack Obama announced Saturday that he would boycott the ceremony "with regret" because draft declaration was objectionable that may cause a repeat of Durban - "a session through which folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were often times completely hypocritical and counterproductive."
Britain will be present though is hesitant to send representatives because of the Holocaust denial or anti-Semitic attacks that occurred in 2001.
According the the New York Times, Australia, Canada, Israel and Italy already have said they would not attend while the Netherlands declared its boycott on Sunday.