Russia says UN conference should improve fight against racism

"The Russian Federation urges the conference to give a fresh strong momentum to uniting efforts to fighting racism and racial discrimination," Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website. More than 100 countries approved on Tuesday a final declaration urging the fight against racism. The consensus came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "racist" country. The statement led to a walkout from the conference by a number of EU delegates. Israel withdrew its ambassador to Switzerland in protest at an earlier meeting between the Swiss and Iranian presidents this weekend and said the conference was "hosting a Holocaust-denying racist who openly declared his intention to wipe Israel off the map", Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.