Doha will not treat Israeli sports team as an enemy
Qatar-Israel, Politics, 8/10/1999

Qatar resumed yesterday the non-commitment of the Arab - resolutions of boycotting normalization with Israel.

Sheikh Khaled Bin Ali al-Thani, the executive director of the world handball championship due to be held in Doha on August 23 - September 5, stressed that the Israeli team will not be treated as an enemy during the championship, at a time when both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain announced their withdrawal from the event.

In a statement published by the Qatari daily al-Watan in its Monday issue, Sheikh Khaled said the Israeli team will be treated as other teams.

Israel plays in the finals among the fourth group along with Tunisia, Denmark, Greece and Angola.

He said it will be received properly and will not treated as an enemy as others might think. He added that there is no link between sports and politics, considering the boycott of Israel is no more justifies since the launching of the peace talks in 1991.

Qatar officials have not explained if this a one time event that is due to the fact that hosting an international sports event is impossible without allowing Israeli participants, or if this a sign that Qatar is moving toward normalizing its relations with Israel.

Previous Stories:
  Saudi Arabia, Bahrain boycott world youth championship   (8/9/1999)
  People of Qatar oppose Israel's participation in Doha championship   (6/15/1999)

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