Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, has cancelled plans to attend a UN meeting in Qatar because of the expected presence of Palestinians from the ruling Hamas group.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, said on Sunday that Livni had never finalized details for her trip, but stopped making plans after learning that two legislators from Hamas, the Palestinian ruling party, would be attending the convention.

Regev said Hamas should not be given legitimacy until it meets demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Israel, backed by the West, has boycotted Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in January. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and its charter calls for the destruction of Israel.

Israel has low-level ties with Qatar, and Livni's invitation to a United Nations convention on democracy would have been the first visit by a leading Israeli government minister to the Gulf state in a decade.

The last Israeli leader to visit Qatar was Shimon Peres, the then prime minister, who opened a trade office in 1996.

Photo Caption

The map of Qatar