France has announced that it will not participate in a gathering in New York this week to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Durban World Conference against Racism.
"This conference gave rise to an unacceptable diversion of the principles and commitments in the fight against racism. For this reason, and as pointed out by several of its European Union partners, France considers that it has not to participate in the commemoration of this event," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
It added: "France reaffirms its commitment to the universality of human rights and its determination to fight against racism. France is committed to the pursuit of collective efforts in the UN and the various international fora to effectively fight against all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racial discrimination."
Several other countries including the United States, Israel, Britain, Canada, The Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic, Germany and Australia, have already announced their intention not to attend the "Durban III" event.
The first Durban conference, from August 31 to September 8, 2001, South Africa, was marked by anti-Semitism and hostility to Israel.
The United States and Israel had then walked out to protest against the tone of the meeting.
France had participated in the 2009 conference but its representatives left the room along with 23 delegations of the European Union during a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called the state of Israel "totally racist".