Qatar's foreign minister and Sharon

The Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has refused a request proposed by the Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem to visit Israel and meet with Sharon, and this will be for permitting to accompany Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian authority to the Arab summit conference to be held in Beirut.

The Israeli Hebrew Language radio said that Sharon refused the request of the Qatari foreign minister under the pretext that Arafat did not work for fighting the Palestinian terrorism. The radio added that other Arab leaders had recently had similar requests to the Israeli government. These requests were categorically rejected.