Egypt says to probe alleged racist comments

Cairo :Cairo said Tuesday it will investigate accusations that an Egyptian official referred to sub-Saharan Africans as "dogs and slaves" during an environmental conference in Nairobi.

Kenyan diplomat Yvonne Khamati accused the unnamed official of making the remarks when the conference went beyond its schedule at the weekend and ministers were unable to vote on resolutions.

Khamati, an ambassador to the UN Environment Programme, made the allegations in a memo circulated on social media whose authenticity she confirmed to AFP.

She demanded Egypt be banned from representing African interests "in any negotiations" as a result of the allegations, which sparked outcry on social media.

In Egypt, blacks and other minorities have long complained of racism and discrimination in the Arab world's most populous nation.

In response, Cairo said on Tuesday that its foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, had ordered an "immediate investigation" into the allegations.

But it expressed its "complete rejection of any attempts to cast doubt on it belonging to Africa and its perpetual defence of the continent's interests".

The conference had been scheduled to end on Friday, but dragged on into the early hours of the next morning and ministers were unable to pass resolutions, including on Gaza, over a lack of quorum.

Diplomats then broke up into groups according to their geographical regions to discuss what could be done, said Khamati.

"Arabic is an African language, and there were many of the diplomats there who therefore understood the comments he made," said the Kenyan ambassador.

"Those are the comments he made," she said, referring to her memo in which she accused the official of calling sub-Saharan Africans "dogs and slaves".

In the memo, she asked Egypt to "unreservedly apologise to Africa," that the official immediately resigns and that Cairo should not negotiate or take any leadership position on behalf of Africa".

Egypt said in response that "all of the information available... thus far indicates that no such language was used by the Egyptian representative at the meeting".

The foreign ministry accused Khamati of "exceeding of her mandate," and demanded it be handed copies of any recorded evidence from the meeting.