Egypt, Qatar to Resume Diplomatic Ties After Over 3-Year Halt

Date: 20 January 2021 - 22:41

News ID: ۸۶۷۶۶

CAIRO (Dispatches) – Egypt and Qatar agreed on Wednesday to resume diplomatic ties after more than three years of halt, Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Egypt and Qatar have exchanged two official notes, according to which the two countries agreed to resume diplomatic relations,” the statement said.
It added that the move has been taken based on the mutual obligations of the Al-Ula declaration that has been signed at the 41st Persian Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi Arabia.
The Al-Ula agreement ended a boycott on Qatar by the Arab quartet, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Egypt reopened its airspace to Qatari flights on Jan. 12 and flights between the two countries were resumed.
When the boycott was announced, Egypt and its allies called on Qatar to cut ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, among other demands.
The group was outlawed in Egypt after then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the overthrow of the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi from the presidency in 2013, before being elected president himself the following year.
Much of the group’s senior leadership was jailed in Egypt but other members took refuge abroad in Qatar or its regional ally Turkey.
Egypt and the UAE have also found themselves at odds with Turkey and Qatar in Libya, where they have backed opposing factions in the conflict.
A Qatari foreign ministry official pledged to Egypt during a meeting with officials from Egypt and UAE on Saturday that his country will change the policy of its Al Jazeera television channel towards Cairo, two Egyptian intelligence sources told Reuters.
He also pledged that Doha would not intervene in Egypt’s internal affairs, they added.