WARSAW (AFP) - Israeli writers were guests of honour at the 53rd annual Warsaw international book fair which opened Thursday featuring 600 publishing houses from 29 countries, organisers said.

Dozens of writers including Israeli children's author Alona Frankel, poet Sara Siwroni, diplomat and romance author Yossi Avni-Levy, and former Knesset speaker Shevah Weiss were due to meet with readers during the three-day event.

Israel's ambassador to Poland David Akiva Peleg said most Israeli literature thematically related to Poland, the pre-World War II homeland of many Israeli writers or their parents.

The focus on Israel comes as the Jewish state celebrates 60 years since its birth in 1948.

Other authors attending the fair include Britain's Robin Cook, author of the thriller "How The Dead Live" and Sweden's Majgull Axelsson, author of "Augusta's House".

The grand opening of the fair was delayed as many participants attended Thursday funeral ceremonies for Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who saved 2,500 Jewish children and infants from the Holocaust.

She passed away in Warsaw on Monday aged 98.

Thousands of "Free Palestine" supporters urging a boycott of Israel protested at a book fair last week showcasing Israeli writers in Turin, Italy.

The Paris book fair in March, which also cast a spotlight on Israeli literature, drew similar Palestinian protesters.

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