Italy pulls out of UN racism conference

World: The meeting has become too toxic for any reasonable person to endorse.

Italy said Thursday it is pulling out of a U.N. conference on racism — the latest blow to a meeting seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also decided to postpone a planned trip to Iran in protest over remarks against Israel and the U.S. administration by Tehran's leadership, the ministry said in a statement. Speaking on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, Frattini said Italy has withdrawn its delegation from the preparatory negotiations ahead of the so-called Durban II conference due to "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements" in the draft of the event's final document. Frattini's comments on the conference were reported by Italian news agencies and confirmed by foreign ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari, who said Rome would not participate in the conference unless the document was changed. "There are expressions of anti-Semitism," Massari said by telephone. "Until the document is modified we will not have a part in it." The United States has imposed similar conditions. Israel and Canada have already announced a boycott.