From: "mart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> SOUTH AFRICA: Workers demonstrate against U.S. threat to boycott conference Friday, August 17, 2001 http://www.sltrib.com/08172001/nation_w/123401.htm PRETORIA -- Waving anti-American and anti-Israeli signs, about two thousand South African workers demonstrated Thursday against the United States for threatening to boycott a U.N. conference on racism. Gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, the demonstrators criticized the United States for warning it would skip the meeting over references to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and African demands for slavery reparations in a proposed convention document. The contentious issues have overshadowed planning of the World Conference Against Racism which begins Aug. 31 in the South African coastal city of Durban. The Americans' staying home could diminish the gathering's credibility. Sipho Pityana, director general of the South African Foreign Ministry, said progress had been made in diplomatic discussions, noting that language singling out Israel as racist has been dropped. � Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
