Egyptian President Sisi meets with Emir of Qatar in Beijing

 

CAIRO- 5 February 2022: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympics  Beijing on Friday.

 

President Sisi and the Emir of Qatar, along with other Arab leaders, are visiting Beijing for participation in the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympics upon the Chinese President’s invitation.

 

Both leaders met, on 28 August 2021, for the first time in more than four years since severing ties between Egypt and Qatar in 2017. Their first meeting was held on the sidelines of the “Baghdad Cooperation and Partnership’ conference.

 

On June 15, 2021, President Sisi sent an invitation to Prince Tamim to visit Egypt at the earliest opportunity, according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The invitation was sent by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Doha.

 

On June 5, 2017, Egypt and three other Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain) decided to cut ties with the oil-rich state of Qatar over accusations of funding terrorism and harboring extremists and wanted-terrorists; charges which Qatar has denied. Early January 2021, the Arab countries ended their boycott with Qatar, after signing Al Ola Agreement at the 41st Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

 

In June 2021, President Sisi appointed Amr El-Sherbini as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Qatar, while the Qatari Emir appointed Salem bin Mubarak bin Shafi Al Shafi as an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Arab Republic of Egypt in July 2021.