Gaza City - The radical Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip charged Monday that countries' boycotting the UN conference on racism in Geneva were caving in to US and Israeli pressure.

"Those countries were quick to respond to the Zionist (reference to Israel) and American pressure and extortion against their leaders," Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas' spokesman, told reporters in Gaza City.

"They shun the conference because it will expose the use by the US-backed Zionist entity of all means of killings and destruction against the Palestinian people," Barhoum added.

The withdrawal of the United States in particular "conflicts with (US) President (Barack) Obama's calls for peace, security and the respect of human rights" in the Middle East, he charged. (dpa)