OBAMA REJECTS ISRAEL'S CALL

US President Barack Obama rejects Israel's call for staying away from a UN conference on racism to enter a new phase in ties with Tel Aviv.
The US State Department said late Saturday it would send diplomats next week to participate in preparatory meetings for the World Conference Against Racism.
Earlier, US officials said Israel has been pressing the Obama administration to stay away from the meeting.
"The intent of our participation is to work to try to change the direction in which the review conference is heading," the department said in a statement.
"We hope to work with other countries that want the Conference to responsibly and productively address racism around the world," it added.
During the Bush administration the US and Israel walked out the first UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001 over efforts to pass a resolution comparing Zionism to racism.
Those efforts failed but there are signs the resolution may be reintroduced at the so-called "Durban 2" meeting in Geneva.
In November, Israel announced that it would boycott the conference. Tel Aviv has been actively lobbying the US and European countries to stay away from this year's meeting.
The Bush administration had left a decision on whether to attend to the next administration, but voted in the UN General Assembly last year to protest the conference.
The World Conference Against Racism is set to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in April.
Source: Press TV