DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - A U.N. conference overcame nine days' wrangling over the Middle East and African demands for reparations for slavery to seal an agreement on fighting racism ``wherever it can be found.''The Durban declaration came a day after the conference was due to close, and bad feelings lingered, but exhausted delegates from some 160 countries finally hammered out a text laying down measures to combat racism and xenophobia. (Read photo caption below)
``Many questioned whether it would be possible to reach consensus but we have achieved it,'' said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who was secretary-general of the conference, the largest ever on racism.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the accord but said he regretted the event was overshadowed by disagreements.
``Clearly we all need to reflect on this experience and see what we can learn from it,'' he said in a statement in New York.
``Not all problems in the world can be resolved at United Nations Conferences. And when Member States do decide to hold such conferences we need to be conscious that, on some issues, they will reflect areas of real disagreement dividing the international community,'' Annan said.
``It is regrettable that the useful work of the conference was overshadowed by disagreements on one or two highly emotional issues, especially the Middle East. Many hurtful things were said ... which tended to inflame the atmosphere rather than to encourage rational and constructive discussion.''
'CONCERN'
In the end, the conference expressed ``concern about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation'' but did not brand Israel racist.
Several countries, including Canada, Syria, Australia and Iran, expressed deep reservations over the wording on the Middle East.
On slavery, the text ``acknowledges and profoundly regrets the massive human sufferings and the tragic plight of millions of men, women and children'' and branded the trade a crime against humanity.
It backed more aid, but did not promise reparations.
The result was a relief for South Africa, which had battled to find common ground over the contentious issues.
Arab states were angry that the conference had refused to condemn Israel -- the United Nations does not recognize Israel's right to the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip -- and accused the world body of giving way to pressure from the European Union and Washington.
But Israel, which had accused Arab countries of seeking to incite racial hatred, welcomed the result.
The European Union, which also toyed with pulling out over the acrimony over the Middle East, applauded the outcome.
Washington -- whose withdrawal was the latest in a long line of U.S. pullouts from international conferences and treaties -- gave it only a lukewarm welcome.
State Department spokeswoman Susan Pittman said Washington was disappointed that the conference became so ``politicized.''
``We're confident that our withdrawal was the correct measure and hope that the decision had some effect on a better but still-flawed result,'' she said.
LATE DEAL
The meeting, held in South Africa to celebrate its victory over apartheid, lasted beyond its deadline -- it had been due to wind up on Friday -- by arguments over slavery and colonialism.
The deal was done in the early hours of Saturday.
Rich states had feared a flood of lawsuits in case of a formal apology or recognition that past slave trading constituted a crime against humanity, to which a statute of limitations does not apply under international law.
Africa says the economic development of the continent, the world's poorest, has been held up by the lingering consequences of colonialism and the stigma left by slavery.
Human rights activists welcomed the declaration and said it could advance the rights of ethnic minorities from the indigenous peoples of the Americas to Europe's immigrants.
But they warned that the true test would be the world's commitment to implementing the Durban consensus.
``The agreement today (Saturday) is a victory for reason over cynicism. But the real test...is whether in years to come the action plan reduces discrimination,'' Krishna Maharaj of Minority Rights Group International said.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Demonstrators hold a candlelight protest against attempts by the United States and other western governments to eliminate language condemning racism from documents of the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in the coastal city of Durban September 5, 2001. A proposed document drafted by South Africa on September 6 called for the recognition of the plight of the Palestinian people but stripped out language branding Israel as a racist state. (Mike Hutchings/Reuters)
- Sep 08 4:49 PM ET