Five delegates to the UN World Conference against Racism were due to meet Wednesday morning in Durban to fine-tune a new text on the Middle East.
The modifications come after Israel and the US blasted a previous document that gained widespread support among conference delgates, particularly those from the developing nations that are home to 80 percent of the world's population.
The five, representing South Africa, Belgium (on behalf of the European Union), the Arab League, Norway and Namibia will then present their draft to small working parties which will include representation from across the globe for further elaboration, sources close to the talks told AFP.
Their efforts to find middle ground to save the conference follow a walkout by the United States and Israel on Monday over "offensive" language on Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
The new draft was drawn up by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is chairing the conference.
She spent most of Tuesday on it after overnight talks with Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, who is president of the Council of Europe, and Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League.
According to the Associated Press, references to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were temporarily removed from the new draft declaration while the South Africans formulated substitute language, quoting Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
She insisted Tuesday that the dispute had not derailed the World Conference against Racism.
"There is a good sense that we are back on course," said Robinson, who organized the gathering.
In the original text, Israel is the only nation singled out for condemnation, said AP.
AFP cited a Belgian foreign ministry spokesman as saying that the European Union considered her text an "acceptable basis for negotiation.”
"After consultation with other partners, the EU believes the draft constitutes an acceptable basis for negotiation," Koen Vervaeke said Tuesday evening.
He declined to give details on the proposed new text.
Suleyman Al Herfi, a member of the Palestinian delegation and the Palestinian Authority's permanent representative in South Africa, said the negotiations Tuesday had not brought any basic changes.
"The Americans, the Israelis and the Europeans are very important but they are not the conference," he said.
"We have to take into consideration the majority of the conference."
But the EU had announced it would be staying in Durban and was united after the US-Israeli pullout.
AP added that among the sticking points were references to the "racist practice of Zionism" and a description of the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state as an ideology "based on racial superiority."
A total of 163 countries are taking part in the UN conference, bringing the number of people accredited to the event to almost 18,000, conference spokeswoman Sue Markham said Tuesday – Albawaba.com
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