DOHA, – The third annual interfaith forum was held in Qatar on Wednesday which was attended a number of Muslim and Christian religious leaders and for the first time, by Jewish Rabbis. Some prominent Muslim clerics boycotted the seminar after Israeli Jews were invited to the event.

The Emir of the Gulf Arab state last year suggested that the conference that aims to promote Muslim-Christian dialogue should be widened to include Jews, however some Israelis declined the invites.

Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, one of the Sunni Muslim world”s most respected clerics, and Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi also decided to boycott the forum after Israeli scholars were asked to attend.

&#34We sent three invitations to Israel, but no one accepted,&#34 said Aisha al-Mannai, head of the organising committee, adding that it was not clear why they had declined.

An official from Qaradawi”s office said the Doha-based cleric would still not attend because he was taking part in a conference in Turkey. &#34It was a scheduling conflict,&#34 he said.

Five Jewish delegates attended the forum on Wednesday, four of whom are from the United States. The fifth delegate, Bernard Kanovitch of the Jewish Institution Council in France, delivered a speech.

Organizers announced that other rabbis are expected to give speeches during the two-day forum.

&#34The goal of this dialogue has always been to increase the knowledge of each side and to base their relations on mutual respect,&#34 Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said in a speech to delegates.

In the past two years, the meeting has attracted senior Vatican figures.

Doha has no diplomatic ties with Israel, but it has angered other Arab states by maintaining low-level ties with the Jewish state.

The conference also focuses on religious freedom, human rights and the challenges that face the modern family, emphasizing universal religious principles to improve the development of societies as a whole.