QATAR: Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres visits Qatar even though the two countries do not have official diplomatic relations.

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres met with Qatar's ruler on Tuesday (January 30) during a rare two-day visit to the Gulf State. Peres said his meeting with Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, was 'frank and pleasant.' 'We had a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, a very frank and very pleasant meeting that lasted for an hour. He has expressed his regret that relations between Qatar and Israel did not go up (as well) as he had hoped for. He referred to my visit here in 1996, then he was by far much more hopeful. And he thought that the peace process between the Palestinians and ourselves would progress again much more than it did. ," Peres told reporters. Peres is in Doha to appear in a televised debate with 300 Arab students later in Tuesday. The last time Peres was in the Arab state was more than ten years ago, at a time when he was prime minister. Israel has some commercial ties with Qatar, but no formal diplomatic relations. As well as being closer to Israel than most of the states in the region, Qatar also has friendly ties with the governing Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. "He (Sheikh Hamad Bin KHalifa Al Thani) called upon Israel to enter negotiations with Hamas. He says Hamas was elected, he thinks Hamas is more pragmatic than we think," Peres said. "He (Sheikh Hamad Bin KHalifa Al Thani) says he has talked at length with the people of Hamas and in his judgement that if Israel goes back to the 1967 borders, Hamas will make full peace with Israel," added Peres. Israel and Western governments have put financial sanctions on the Hamas-led Palestinian government for refusing to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace accords. The embargo has hit the Palestinian economy hard. Qatar has also tried, so far unsuccessfully, to broker a deal between Hamas and moderate President Mahmoud Abbas to end an increasingly violent power struggle. Speaking about Iran, Peres said: "I don't think Israel has a problem with Iran, I think we have a problem with Ahmadinejad. And when I say we, I mean us (Israel), the rest of the world, and if you want, the Iranians themselves." "There is a great deal of dissatisfaction within Iran itself with Ahmadinejad. I think Ahmadinejad almost forced the west to take a position against him. And if he will continue with the extreme policies, the opposition will grow," he added. Israel has been trying to court what it sees as moderate Arab countries as potential allies against Iran's nuclear programme and in fighting Islamist militants. But there is little sign of popular sympathy for Israel in the region after its battles with Palestinian militants and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. Qatar and several other Arab states ended an economic ban on Israel after it signed interim peace accords with the Palestinians in 1993, but relations worsened after a Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000. The only Arab neighbours with which Israel has full ties are Egypt and Jordan.

ITN Source | January 31, 2007

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