Berlin  - Germany is likely to stay away from a UN meeting against racism next week in Geneva amid western concerns that the event may take on anti-Semitic overtones, a senior official confirmed in Berlin Thursday.

To the dismay of UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, the United States, Australia and other western nations have objected to wording about Israel in a draft declaration and said they do not plan to send any envoys to the five-day meeting in Switzerland.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has caused upset by calling the Holocaust a "myth" and demanding the abolition of Israel, is reportedly the only prominent head of state registered to attend.

Guenter Nooke, the German Foreign Ministry's top human rights envoy, said in Berlin, "Germany, like several other EU nations, will very likely not be taking part in the conference."

He told the German Press Agency dpa the final decision would be taken this Friday. If the Germans stay away, it would be the first time in decades that Germany has skipped a major UN conference.

In separate remarks for the Friday edition of the daily newspaper Die Welt, Nooke said that German officials did not want to provide an audience for Ahmadinejad.

Western officials said the Geneva gathering, known as the Durban Review Conference, could see a reprise of the anti-Semitism that marred the initial South African event in
2001.(dpa)