KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — All United Nations member states are allowed to participate in the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, the organisers said today following the controversy over the participation of Israeli officials in the forum.

In a short statement, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) said that that WUF was a "non legislative” forum.

"Following United Nations procedure for hosting an United Nations conference, participation is open to all member states,” it said.

It also said that the WUF9 was a success, with over 25,000 participants from 165 countries.

Recently, Putrajaya was questioned if its stance towards Israel changed after Israeli diplomats attended WUF9, breaking a six-decade tradition of non existent diplomatic relations between Israel and Malaysia.

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman however has stressed that the diplomats’ presence was not via an official invitation from the Malaysian government but rather via UN.