Qatar cuts links with Israel

The Islamic Conference summit begins on Sunday

Qatar has announced the closure of the Israeli trade mission in the capital, Doha, after a threatened boycott of the forthcoming Islamic summit there.

A Qatari government spokesman said the move would allow the meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference - which opens on Sunday - to go ahead successfully

I have been to Gaza three days ago where I witnessed the tragic situation that our Palestinian brothers are suffering

Qatari foreign minister

Some members have pressed Qatar to break links with Israel over the renewed violence in the Palestinian territories.

Iran and Saudi Arabia had threatened to boycott the gathering if Qatar did not shut down the low-level office.

The Gulf state is due to take over the presidency of the Islamic Conference Organisation from Iran after the summit.

Commercial links

Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi: Iran had threatened a boycott

Qatar, the only Arab state in the Persian Gulf region to maintain commercial ties with Israel, did not say if it would officially sever relations with Israel.

But relations between the two countries were based solely on the trade mission.

"The state of Qatar has decided to close the Israeli trade representative office in Doha to consolidate Islamic solidarity," an official of the official Qatar News Agency said.

At a news conference later, Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim Al Thani said the decision was in support of Palestinians.

We would like people to hold fast with their relationships while we try to calm the violence and get back to the peace process

US official

"I have been to Gaza three days ago where I witnessed the tragic situation that our Palestinian brothers are suffering from," he said.

Iran has announced that President Mohammad Khatami would now attend the summit.

A senior US official said the move as a setback in efforts to quell continuing violence in the Middle East.

"We would like people to hold fast with their relationships while we try to calm the violence and get back to the peace process," the official said, quoted on AFP.

United we stand

After last month's Arab summit in Egypt, three states - Oman, Tunisia and Morocco - broke their ties with Israel.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries that maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel.

The BBC's Roger Hardy says Qatar, finds itself caught between an angry Muslim world and its close ally, the United States, which has encouraged its friends in the Gulf to establish relations with Israel.

The Qataris found it impossible to ignore the demands of such influential Muslim states as Iran and Saudi Arabia, he says.