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UN conference urges fight against racism
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-24 23:45

GENEVA -- A major UN anti-racism conference concluded here on Friday with concerted calls for greater resolve and political will in fighting all forms of racism.

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights , said the five-day Durban Review Conference was a success.

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Delegates will leave Geneva "with a sure sense of accomplishment," Pillay, also secretary-general of the conference, told the closing session.

Amos Wako, the Kenyan president of the conference, hailed the outcome document of the meeting as "carefully balanced".

The adoption of the document "showed the virtue of constructive engagement," he said.

He also called for the Untied States and a few other countries that boycotted the conference to "rejoin the international community" in the fight for a world free of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The United States, Israel and several other Western countries have chosen to stay away from the five-day conference, citing concerns that it could be used as a forum for anti-Semitism.