Reconciliation with Qatar: Egypt affirms support for Arab unity

CAIRO – 31 December 2020: Egypt has always sought to support sincere efforts exerted to preserve the unity of the Arab, said Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez on Thursday in response to a question about the Arab-Qatar reconciliation.

 

He added that the good faith is a key part to achieve true reconciliation and to observe the principles of commitment not to interfere in internal affairs of other countries.

 

His comments came ahead of the coming Gulf summit, due in Saudi Arabia in January. On Wednesday, Saudi King Salman bin Abdel Azizi invited the Qatari Emir to attend the summit; however, it has not confirmed yet if the Qatari Emir will attend or not.

 

On June 5, 2017, 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.

 

The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha – then shortened to six principles – which included turning down the provocative voice of its news channel, Al-Jazeera, curbing relations with Iran, and not intervening in the domestic issues of Arab nations.

 

Despite all the diplomatic efforts to end the crisis, a solution has not been reached yet and the crisis is still ongoing without a quick fix to the spat. The Gulf states need a clear signal that Qatar is willing to reexamine its position regarding extremism and terrorism.