Durban, South Africa — Hours after the United Nations World Conference against Racism (WCAR) was due to end in Durban, negotiations were continuing late Friday, and looked set once again to take delegates well into the night.
It was announced late Friday evening that the final plenary session of the Durban conference would be held at 10am local time on Saturday, possibly followed by the closing ceremony.
But there was no formal indication that a final document would be agreed and ready in time.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, was not optimistic when she said on Friday it would be a "great achievement to get an agreement at all" in Durban.
Her comments did nothing to lift the gloom that has descended over the racism conference that kicked off with such high hopes on Friday last week.
Still at the top of the agenda were the twin unresolved issues of the Middle East and slavery. Earlier on Friday, European delegates agreed to apologise for the slave trade, in what was described as a breakthrough after unsuccessful negotiations with African countries.
But the Belgian Foreign Minister, Louis Michel, tempered that announcement by confirming later in the day that the final document on the legacy of the past still had to be agreed by the European group, and other western nations, though he added that the discussion on the text was "advanced".
While Michel acknowledged that present-day slavery "was of course a crime against humanity", he said it was more difficult to label the past slave trade as such.
"Slavery yesterday in the past, was of course a very, very grave, bad and awful thing, but it is very difficult to express today, if we have to be serious at the legal level, to consider that you can compare slavery today and slavery in the past. There is a difference in appreciation about slavery then and now," said the Belgian minister.
His reply lead to more confusion, than clarity, about the quality of the apology made by European Union countries, but it confirmed the official explanation of the South Africans.
A senior Foreign Ministry official, Sipho Pityana, said that the Europeans saying sorry would in no way imply any legal obligation or liability for slavery. So, the issue of reparations remained unresolved.
The Belgian Foreign Minister held a 45 minute press briefing Friday evening, in French and English, after more than a week of silence in Durban, by the Belgian envoy whose country represents the voice of the European Union (EU). Belgium is currently president of the EU.
Michel expressed great admiration for his South African counterpart, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is also chairperson of the conference. Michel lauded the South African minister's energy and determination to try to find consensus in Durban. South Africa has been feverishly trying to bring opposing sides together and close the gulf, especially over the Middle East question and the Arab condemnation of Israel in the draft text, which led to the withdrawal of the United States and the Israelis on Monday.
The Belgian Foreign Minister said the Durban anti-racism conference presented an opportunity to move forward. He then asked rhetorically why the European Union had decided not to quit the conference, after the walkout by the Americans on Monday, who objected to language in the draft declaration that referred to Israel as a 'racist state.
He added that walking out of a forum such as of the United Nations was a very serious act, and that it seemed sometimes people might take that course of action lightly, without properly weighing the impact and consequences.
Michel said the EU was determined to reach an accord. "We, the European Union, remained united in Durban, in order to give Durban a chance to make it possible to reach an agreement".
He implied that the 'exercise in Durban, as he put it, was almost a moral obligation out of respect "for the millions of victims of the past, of the present and potential victims of the future".
Michel concluded that concrete results of the conference in Durban were "essential to fight against racism and xenophobia all over the world, but also in Europe". He also said that agreement in Durban was important for Africa, "a wonderful continent, but one that has suffered pain. Africa was on the agenda in a very important way. And if there is no agreement in Durban, Africa will be the biggest loser of failure in Durban".
Success in Durban, said Michel, would open the way to a new relationship based on a "real spirit of solidarity and partnership of fragile communities that were victims of a world that was not equal".
The Belgian Foreign Minister said Durban provided the opportunity "to express a very strong act of repentance (about slavery). Some called it regret, some called it remorse and others called it apologies. The wording is not important. What is important is the recognition of an injustice that we cannot accept, and for which the historical context is often used, but cannot be allowed as a justification".
These were fine words from Louis Michel, but they will be cold comfort to many of the African and other delegations that were hoping for more than can possibly come out of the Durban Conference against Racism as it stands now.
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African officials have mentioned sentiments such as 'blackmail, feeling torn between their Arab allies, including the Palestinians, on one side and their European partners on the other, who were backing Israel.
The Belgian Foreign Minister, who took questions from journalists for half an hour, after a fifteen minute resume, admitted that discussion on the Middle East crisis had eclipsed other issues at the Durban conference. "In Durban, we put it under the spotlight, violently and with passion on such a problem, but I think it is not useful for the (Mideast) conflict".
Michel said he was not discouraged, though a little tired and disappointed about developments. He admitted that he had had little sleep and long nights and had missed another flight on Friday night so that he could stay on to help push forward negotiations that he hoped would lead to an agreement on Saturday.
But many are asking what kind of final declaration or landmark agreement the Durban Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance can deliver, after more than a week of often frustrating deliberations, deadlock and angry recriminations.
The fight against racism and intolerance, warn observers, may be the loser, not to speak of the victims of discrimination for whom the Durban conference was supposed to seek redress.
