Israel's Livni, in Qatar, lobbies for support against Iran, ties with Arabs
DOHA (AFP) — Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni used a visit to Qatar on Monday, a rare event in the Arab world, to lobby for support against Iran's nuclear drive and urge Arab states to forge ties with Israel.
Livni, on the second day of a visit officially billed as intended to attend a democracy forum, also met with Qatar's leadership and held what Israel hailed as a first public encounter with her Omani counterpart.
"Iran represents the extremists in the region and this is a threat and challenge to the entire region," Livni told reporters in Doha when asked if she had sought support against Iran's nuclear programme during her meetings.
Livni said Iran tries to undermine other regimes, works with "radical" Shiite elements such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, and supports Hamas, a "terrorist organisation" controlling Gaza "by weapons, training and money."
The West and Israel suspect Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons -- a charge Tehran denies. Gulf Arab states have repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution to the dispute, a point made again on Sunday by the prime minister of Qatar, a close US ally.
"Iran is a neighbour and is important to us. Stability is also important in the region and we are always keen on seeing any issue in the region resolved peacefully, especially with regard to Iran," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani told AFP.
In her address to the democracy forum, Livni called for Arab states to forge contacts with her country, saying they could adopt a gradual approach to establishing ties.
"I hope that other Arab states will follow the example of Qatar" in maintaining ties with Israel, she said.
Livni said Arabs need not wait for Israel to reach an agreement with the Palestinians before normalising ties, but could do so "step by step."
Qatar has political contacts with Israel and hosts an Israeli commercial interests office, but does not have full-fledged diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
A number of Israeli officials have visited Qatar before, but ties with Israel remain a highly controversial issue in the Arab world in the absence of progress in reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.
In her speech, Livni portrayed Israel as being in the same trench as "moderate" Arabs against "radicals," slamming what she called the "terror" coming from Hamas-run Gaza, which is under a tight Israeli blockade.
She also said Israel was committed to reaching a two-state solution in negotiations with the "legitimate Palestinian government" led by Fatah, a Hamas rival.
The Israeli foreign ministry said in Jerusalem that Livni's meeting with Oman's minister for foreign affairs, Yusef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, was their first public encounter.
An aide traveling with Livni said she updated him on the negotiations with the Palestinians and discussed with him the Arab world's role in the peace process.
Bin Alawi told AFP after the meeting in Doha that he disagreed with Israeli views on the peace process and there was no question of immediately reopening an Israeli trade office in Muscat shut nearly eight years ago.
"There is no room for opening it until agreement is reached on the establishment of a Palestinian state," the Omani minister said.
In September 2006, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported that Livni held a secret meeting with bin Alawi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Oman became the first Gulf Arab country to open a trade office in Tel Aviv, in 1996, but it recalled its representative five months later, making his return conditional on real progress in Middle East peace talks.
It shut down the office, as well as Israel's own trade office in Muscat, in October 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada.
Livni also met Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani as well as Qatar's prime minister, who doubles as foreign minister.
An aide said she also met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Doha for the forum. She was due to leave Qatar on Tuesday.
