The Week in Quotes: Dec 18-Dec 25

Egypt Today rounds up this week’s news and milestones

 

By Ahmed Mansour and Kaylan Geiger

  Qatar and Egypt Turn a New Page in Saudi-Sponsored Meeting After over a year of conflict between the two countries, Egypt and Qatar are showing signs that the relationship between the two may be warming up. While nothing has been set in stone, it seems that the two countries are approaching dialogue after relations went sour following the July 3, 2013 ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi. A Saudi sponsored initiative toward reconciliation brought President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Qatari officials together in the same room in an attempt to reopen dialogue between the two countries. Al-Sisi met with the emir of Qatar in Cairo on December 20. Following the meeting, the Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera announced that it would be shutting down Mubasher Misr and launching another channel, Al Jazeera Mubasher, to take its place. Following June 30, Al Jazeera and its partner channels were blamed for being pro-Muslim Brotherhood, while at the same time Qatar was coming under heat for also being pro-Brotherhood and providing a safe haven for Brotherhood leaders. Qatar’s pro-Brotherhood stance proved to be a damaging force in relations between the Gulf country and Egypt. The closure of Mubasher Misr has been viewed as a show of good faith by Qatar in its commitment to improving relations with Egypt. Following the announcement of the closure, Al-Sisi said that Egypt will be waiting for more positive steps from Qatar. “Saudi Arabia values the steps taken by the two countries which will strengthen the relationships between Egypt and Qatar, one of which is today’s visit of the special envoy of the emir of Qatar.” — An official statement by the Saudi palace. “I believe that this was an important step that was avoided for far too long. Having a powerful country, such as Qatar, on Egypt’s side will help us start moving forward and overcoming lots of issues that Egypt is facing now. Nothing should come between the unities of the Arab world, especially not the Muslim Brotherhood. I applaud Saudi Arabia for taking matters into its own hands, and working on fixing the relations between those two powerful countries.” — Abdul-Basset Mohamed, strategic analyst of Al-Ahram newspaper, to Egypt Today “Qatar has different strategies and different opinions about what is going on in Egypt than those of the Egyptian government itself. It’s hard to believe that because of a simple meeting, all opinions have changed drastically and both governments pretend as if everything is ok and nothing has happened. Qatar is a country that supports the cause of a terrorist organization in Egypt, and I think shutting down Al-Jazzera Mubasher Misr does not prove that they have changed their beliefs.” — Shady Abbas, political activist, to Egypt Today “I personally do not consider Qatar to be an Arab country, I consider it to be an American country. If Saudi Arabia fixes Egyptian-Qatari relations that means that the Egyptian-American relationship is fixed as well. I understand that for a country to prosper, it needs to be in good relations with other countries, so no one can deny that this is a great step.” — Mosheera Alabandar, media officer in the Constitution Party, to Egypt Today Sisi Visits China, Signs Economic Agreements President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi traveled to China on December 21 for his first official visit to the country. President Al-Sisi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and signed 25 agreements with Chinese counterparts, outlining the economic development objectives of the official visit. President Al-Sisi also signed an agreement with the Egyptian-Chinese Business Council pertaining to a project that would construct a high-speed train that connects Alexandria with Aswan. During his meeting with the council, Al-Sisi said that Egypt and China have always shared a strong relationship and that Egypt invites China to aid Egypt in its development efforts. During Al-Sisi’s meeting with President Xi, both leaders expressed faith in their economic partnership and China promised to uphold its commitment to Egypt. Both promised to cooperate on the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiatives. “Going side by side with the political action, the Egyptian people had demands for changing the economic administration of the country […]. Frankly speaking, the Egyptian economic situation was very difficult given the very slow economic growth rates and increasing inflation, let alone the escape of foreign investments from the country […]. The challenge is big." — President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during his address to the Egyptian-Chinese Business Council “The purpose of the visit is to enhance the Egyptian economy by signing deals with China, and that is what Egypt needs. Sisi is doing his best to steer this country into a more stable country and his work should be recognized and applauded.” — Abdul-Basset Mohamed, strategic analyst for Al-Ahram newspaper, to Egypt Today “Egypt is a very powerful country that needs to be acknowledged. I fully support what President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is doing for the country and I do hope that all his efforts are not done in vain. Egypt has lost many friends during the ruling of the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s about time that our president worked on restoring those relations.” — Radwa Monier, political activist and member of the Strong Egypt Party, to Egypt Today Milestones Died, former Prime Minister Abdel-Aziz Hegazy at the age of 91 on December 22. Hegazy served as prime minister under President Anwar Sadat, in addition to serving as treasury minister and finance and foreign trade minister. Fined, comedian Bassem Youssef LE 50 million for breaking his contract with CBC channel. CBC claims that Youssef violated the contract between the two, despite having axed his show in 2013. After CBC canceled El-Bernameg, Youssef moved the show to the Saudi-owned MBC channel. Although the court case was filed in November, the news of the suit broke in mid-December.