Israeli minister to visit Qatar

Livni will become the most senior Israeli official to visit Qatar in 10 years

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has accepted an invitation to a conference in the Gulf state of Qatar.

The visit will be the highest level visit to Qatar by an Israeli official in 10 years.

On Sunday, Qatar hosts the sixth International Conference on New or Restored Democracies in Doha.

Qatar and Israel maintain low-level diplomatic and commercial ties, but there has been no high-profile visit to Qatar since Shimon Peres in 1996.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani met Ms Livni at the UN General Assembly in September.

He also recently visited Gaza in an effort to advance negotiations on the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and has attempted to move on talks between the main Palestinian factions on a unity government.

Sunday's conference, which hopes to bring together top representatives from at least 27 states, is expected to focus on reform in the Arab world.

Freedom of speech and the participation of women in political life are also to be key issues.