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Israel Attending WTO Provocative for Arabs
With additional reporting by Khaled Hanafy
DOHA, Qatar, Nov 9. (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's participation Friday in the fourth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Doha comes as "defiance and provocation" to the Arabs feelings, an unidentified Arab diplomat told IslamOnline.
The diplomat added the Israeli presence alerted most Arab countries not to take part in the conference or to limit their participation.
"Qatar - in case of being unable not to invite Israel in the first place - could've limited their [Israelis] participation," the diplomat added.
He did not rule out the possibility of a new crisis between Doha and Arab and regional states in light of what he described as "Qatar's insistence" on being "an Israeli penetration center." The same diplomat cited Qatar's failed attempts to convince many Arab and Islamic states to attend the conference.
Some Qatari reporters and observers told IslamOnline that Israel had two goals for participating in the WTO conference, which opened late Friday and ends on November 13.
The first goal, they claimed, is to revive the normalization process with the Arabs - officially frozen since the eruption of the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, 14 month ago.
And secondly, to discuss some investment projects with Qatari officials to boost the Israeli economy. Israel's economy is currently reeling under the Palestinian Intifada.
Israeli Minister of regional cooperation, Rony Milo, declared Wednesday he would head his country's delegation to the WTO conference in Doha, Israeli TV reported.
"We got the necessary entry visas and approvals without problems," Milo said. "This visit in itself is very important, because it is to an Arab Gulf country."
Milo explained that the Israeli delegation was not going to Doha just to take part in the WTO conference, but to "hold meetings and discussions with senior Qatari officials."
Delegations of WTO member states continued Friday to arrive in Doha to attend the conference's meetings, due to open in Doha later in the day.
The Qatari government established an Organizing Committee with a view to oversee the logistical and other preparatory aspects of the conference following the decision of the General Council of the WTO on February 2001 to designate Qatar as the venue for the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference.
Organizers considered moving the WTO meeting venue over security fears in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States and the war on nearby Afghanistan.
The United States decided to limit the size of its team in Qatar for security reasons, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said.
"I am trying to keep my staff as small as possible for their safety," the U.S. trade chief said.
The Washington Post reported members of the U.S. Congress who would be in Doha had received classified security briefings amid concerns terrorist cells were operating in Qatar.
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