NO one country should be allowed to dictate to the world what should be on the agenda of the UN-sponsored conference against racism, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party said again on Sunday. The United States has threatened to boycott the week-long conference — scheduled to begin August 31 in Durban — if measures to equate Zionism with racism and reparations for slavery are on the agenda. Speaking after a two-day meeting of the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC), party spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said a democratic process should be followed to conclude the agenda. He said a country should be encouraged to express opinions but could not dictate to other nations what they should discuss. Washington skipped the two previous UN conferences on racism, in 1978 and 1983, because of the attempts of some Arab countries to equate Zionism with racism. – AFP