First meeting in 4 years by Sisi with Emir of Qatar in Iraq

A new chapter in Egypt’s relations with Qatar began Friday (27 August 2021) with the first meeting in four years between Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, at the recent Baghdad Summit.

In their private meeting, the two leaders spoke of fruitful cooperation, which would serve the interests of the Arab countries and is based on mutual respect.

For his part, the Emir of Qatar expressed his appreciation for the positive developments in Egypt-Qatar relations and welcomed the recent exchange of visits between officials of the two countries

Prince Tamim reaffirmed Qatar’s desire to strengthen bilateral relations with Egypt, in particular in the light of the strategic and pivotal role played by Egypt under President al-Sisi in maintaining regional stability.

According to the representative of the Egyptian presidency, Ambassador Bassam Randy, the meeting also discussed the importance of continuing all consultations and promoting relations, with a view to re-establishing various bilateral cooperation mechanisms, in line with the progress made in the course of Egyptian relations.

Qatar on the basis of what was set out in the Al-Ula Declaration, signed in January in Saudi Arabia, where Egypt and Qatar agreed to resume diplomatic relations under the “solidarity and stability” agreement signed by Saudi Arabia. the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

Egypt and the other countries involved in the dispute have agreed to re-establish ties with Qatar by lifting the trade and travel embargo against Qatar.

However, the Egyptian media point out that despite the agreement, Egypt remains somewhat wary of the criticism leveled at Cairo by the Qatari media, in particular the state-backed Al Jazeera.