Qatar is preparing to host an international democracy conference beginning on Sunday that will also provide an opportunity for Israel's foreign minister to make her first official trip to the Gulf monarchy.
Israel, a key US ally, was the first to announce it was sending its foreign minister to the sixth conference on New and Restored Democracies.
Reform in the Arab world is expected to top the agenda for the UN-sponsored meeting, expected to bring together representatives from at least 75 of the United Nations' 192 members. Twenty-seven of them are to be represented at the foreign minister level.
Tzipi Livni's registration for the four-day meet has drawn considerable attention in the gas-rich country, which has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state but shares strong ties with the Palestinians.
Qatar has however hosted an Israeli trade office since 1996, maintains regular contact with both Israel and the Palestinians, and earlier this month attempted to mediate between the ruling Hamas movement and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
The wealthy OPEC member and one of the world's leading producers of gas was aiming to end a stand-off between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah party amid a spate of deadly clashes between the two sides.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani tried to negotiate with prime minister Ismail Haniya and president Mahmud Abbas for a compromise on a national unity government, but his efforts failed.
Hamas refused to give in to the international community's demands that its government recognise Israel, formally renounce violence and agree to respect previous Israel-Palestinian peace accords.
But Qatar has not given up hope that the embattled Palestinians, who have experienced widespread foreign aid cuts and political deadlock since Hamas rose to power in a democratic election in January, could benefit from the conference.
"We invited the Palestinian government but we do not know who will represent it," said Qatari deputy foreign minister Mohammed al-Rumaihi.
A spokesman in Gaza told AFP that the Palestinian government would not be represented at the conference, though some Palestinian deputies might attend.
The conference is to cover the democratic experiences of participating countries, including progress made and obstacles encountered in their reform processes.
The participation of women in political life is also to be a key issue.
In addition to the government attendance, 62 parliamentary delegations are to attend, along with 104 civil society groups.
In all, 17 studies are to be submitted to participants, covering various aspects of democratic gains in the world since the first installation of the conference, which took place in Manila in 1988.
The conference's second meeting was held in Managua in 1994, and has been held regularly every three years since then. Bucharest hosted the 1997 meeting, followed by Cotonou, Benin in 2000 and the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator in 2003.
This year's International Conference on New or Restored Democracies on October 29 to November 1 will also adopt a "Doha Declaration" and a plan of action for the coming three years.
Qatar has indicated it may host a permanent conference secretariat charged with following up on the conference's recommendations, an idea that has repeatedly been put forth by conference participants but has yet to materialise.