  DOHA, Qatar (AP) - In her first visit to a Gulf nation, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni sought Arab support against Iran and militant groups, warning Monday that extremists like Hezbollah and Hamas are trying to sabotage regional peace efforts.
Livni told delegates at a democracy and trade conference in Qatar that Israel and Arab states are mired in the same struggle with extremists who "refuse to recognize our democratic rights."
"When I say `our,' I mean the rights of Israelis, moderate Palestinians, moderate Arabs and pragmatic Muslim regimes alike," Livni said Monday during a panel discussion.
"We, the moderates of the region, are all members of the same camp," she said.
It was Livni's first visit to Qatar, an energy-rich Gulf state that supports the Palestinian movement Hamas and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
The two countries maintain low-level trade relations, however, and Qatar publicly offered to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas earlier this year.  Hamas officials visit Qatar regularly. Last year, Qatar also invited Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit.
On Monday, Livni said Iran — whose nuclear ambitions worry Israel and Iran's Arab neighbors across the Gulf — is "an example of extremist ideology."
The three-day conference was attended by mostly European delegates, and several Arab politicians were conspicuously absent.
Livni said she'd visit "any Arab country that would invite me."
Associated Press Writer Jessica Desvarieux contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt. |