A delegation of Druze officials from Israel arrived in Beirut on Monday to attend a regional conference of leaders from the religious community sponsored by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.

Israel bans its citizens from visiting "enemy" states such as Lebanon as Israel remains technically in a state of war with it.

The Israeli Druze leaders, mostly sheikhs and religious leaders from northern villages in the the Galilee, departed Saturday for Jordan, and continued to Lebanon through Syria.

The 30-member delegation said in a statement published Monday that it had not received permission to travel to Lebanon from the government or from the Interior Ministry.

The delegation said it had sent a request to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to Interior Minister Eli Yishai, which went unanswered. However, Galilee police summoned one of the Druze leaders, Sheikh Aouni Khanifas, for questioning over allegations he was organizing a trip to an enemy state.

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