Alwaght- Between Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula is more than just 2,069 km of land and sea as the political chasm that has long ripped the Arab world apart seems to be only widening.
Between Cairo and members of the Persian-Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman are growing differences particularly over the Syrian and Yemeni crises, both of which have been traced to Riyadh's hidden agenda in the region.
Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi addressing the UN General Assembly in New York last September, vocalized his country's stance as he spoke of a political framework to resolve the Syrian crisis instead of ongoing bloodshed while maintaining the country's territorial integrity.
This has not satisfied Saudi Arabia and other GCC whose sole purpose regarding the Syrian crisis is to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.
To further prove the disparity, the head of Syria's National Security Bureau Ali Mamlouk recently made a visit to Egypt during which he was welcomed by Sisi and a number of intelligence, security, and army commanders. The Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper reported about the unannounced trip saying both sides were content with the results.
Comparing it with the PGCC's move to recognize the National Coalition of the Syrian opposition as the "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people- a year after the Arab League suspended Damascus' membership- Egypt still acknowledges the legitimacy of the government.
When former Islamist President Mohammad Morsi assumed power in 2012, Cairo severed ties with Damascus and vice versa. The Muslim Brotherhood was calling on its members to join the battles in Syria. So, the great shift in the relation between Egypt and Syria came with Sisi's rise to power.
Another sign of the thawing of relations is the visit of an Egyptian political and media delegations to the Syrian capital in August.
While Egypt has acceded to partake in the Saudi-led alliance that has waged war against Yemen and shown compliance to deploy ground troops, there has been no materialization of these undertakings. Now there are two main points of contention between Egypt and the PGCC: Syria and Yemen.
Yet what little official rhetorical condemnation of Saudi Arabia's policies in the region has been verbalized by Egypt, its newspapers have been sure to express.
In an editorial note, Egyptian-based Al Ahram news paper, was critical of Riyadh over its policies towards Syria and its insistence on Assad's removal.
However, such press condemnation would not be possible without being sanctioned by the state which keeps a keen eye on Egyptian media, leading observers to speculate that it is an indirect message from Cairo to the PGCC.
