Livni meets with Omani counterpart in Qatar
Senior representatives from two countries meet for first time in seven years. Foreign minister to deliver speech at Doha forum Monday evening
One of the senior figures Livni met with was Oman's Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Allawi. This was the first meeting in seven years between representatives from Israel and Oman, after diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed at the beginning of the second intifada.
Livni seeks to make use of her visit to Qatar in order to upgrade its relations with Israel to the level of embassies.
In addition, the foreign minister seeks to advance a united front against the Iranian threat and, according to Arab media, to work to advance a deal for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
Senior Arab officials cancel participation
Immediately upon her arrival in Doha, Livni was surrounded by dozens of armed security guards, some of them the private bodyguards of the local emir. Every other leader arriving at the forum on democracy received one armored car, while Livni got four for fear that someone would try and assassinate her.
As she entered the conference hall, the attendees stood up to greet her, and dignitaries from the Gulf region walked over and shook her hand, including officials from Gulf states which do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
The visit received extensive coverage by the Qatari press. The country's prominent newspaper al-Wattan interviewed Livni, who said that "Iran constitutes a regional and global threat. We will not tolerate an Iran with nuclear capabilities."
Several Arab officials cancelled their participation in the Doha conference because of Livni's attendance, including former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabi Berry and former Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh. However, the conference was attended by Lebanese and Syrian parliament members.
Itamar Eichner contributed to this report
