- Title: TURKEY: Qatar Prime Minister official visit
- Date: 5th February 2009
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (FEBRUARY 04, 2009) (REUTERS) ERDOGAN AND AL THANI LEAVING PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE TURKISH FLAG FLYING AL THANI WALKING DOWN STEPS AND ENTERING CAR
- Embargoed: 20th February 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVAAWEE3Q16SC8YMLJMFKZD5NXZ
- Story Text: Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir al Thani met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a visit to Ankara, on Wednesday (February 04).
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan also attended the talks.
The Turkish state-run Anatolian agency reported that al Thani has expressed a desire to organise an international conference for the rebuilding of Gaza, and has asked for Turkey's support for the initiative.
Erdogan has said the conference planned by Qatar is a positive development.
The visit comes a day after the Qatari leader met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London.
Qatar has emerged as a regional mediator since it helped resolve a long-standing political dispute in Lebanon last year.
In January, Qatar hosted an emergency Arab Summit meeting on Gaza.
At the summit, Arab countries were marred by divisions on how to respond to the three-week Israeli offensive against Gaza.
Differences over how to deal with the Israeli offensive that killed more than 1,300 people highlighted the divide between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and their allies on one side, and Syria, Qatar and their allies on the other.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have tended to lean towards Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while Syria and Qatar have been more sympathetic to Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since routing Abbas' forces in June 2007. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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