Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Editor's Choice

News

Most Viewed

Day Week Month

In Focus

Ansarullah

Ansarullah

A Zaidi Shiite movement operating in Yemen. It seeks to establish a democratic government in Yemen.
Shiite

Shiite

represents the second largest denomination of Islam. Shiites believe Ali (peace be upon him) to be prophet"s successor in the Caliphate.
Resistance

Resistance

Axis of Resistances refers to countries and movements with common political goal, i.e., resisting against Zionist regime, America and other western powers. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine are considered as the Axis of Resistance.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

A regional political u n i o n consisting of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
Taliban

Taliban

Taliban is a Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan. It was founded by Mohammed Omar in 1994.
  Wahhabism & Extremism

Wahhabism & Extremism

Wahhabism is an extremist pseudo-Sunni movement, which labels non-Wahhabi Muslims as apostates thus paving the way for their bloodshed.
Kurds

Kurds

Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region, which spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They are an Iranian people and speak the Kurdish languages, which form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian branch of Iranian languages.
NATO

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
Islamic Awakening

Islamic Awakening

Refers to a revival of the Islam throughout the world, that began in 1979 by Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic republic.
Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

A militant Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between 1988 and 1989
New node

New node

Map of  Latest Battlefield Developments in Syria and Iraq on
alwaght.net
Analysis

Riyadh, Cairo Deep Differences over Syrian, Yemeni Crises

Wednesday 7 October 2015
Riyadh, Cairo Deep Differences over Syrian, Yemeni Crises

 Alwaght-Following the conclusion of June 8conference of Syrian opposition forces in Cairo, it looks like Egypt has adopted a new policy on the Syrian crisis, shifting a position formerly supportive of its strategic regional partner, Saudi Arabia. The government is now rejecting a military solution and instead is calling for a political resolution to the crisis that erupted in 2011.

In June 2014, Sisi took power in Egypt and sought out middle ground to avoid jeopardizing relations with international and regional actors, primarily Saudi Arabia and Russia, which have taken conflicting positions on Syria.

Despite Turkey's new alliance with Saudi Arabia on Syria, with both supporting jihadist movements there, Cairo's diplomatic efforts appear geared toward countering or lessening Turkey’s active role in the conflict. At the same time, Egypt is taking steps toward rapprochement with Russia and is considering Assad’s existence as part of a potential solution.

While Cairo has been relying on Saudi Arabia, deeming it a strategic ally since Sisi’s accession, Egyptian media have reported tensions between Cairo and Riyadh over Syrian crisis management stemming from the Saudi alliance with Turkey, including supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorists in Syria to bring down Assad. Reports from Persian Gulf are predicting that even more differences may arise, especially given Cairo's decision to host Syrian opposition figures and formulate a road map before an anticipated gathering of the Syrian opposition in Riyadh, albeit at an undetermined date.

However, despite the two states' differences, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed a pact in Cairo aimed at boosting military and economic ties between the two Arab allies. Saudi-Egypt relations have warmed since ouster of Islamist President Mohammad Morsi in 2013, with Saudi Arabia offering billions in aid to Egypt. Indeed, what makes Cairo to think twice before announcing its policies more loudly is the fact that it is dependent on Al Saud's financial aid.

Although, during a meeting between Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair and his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shukri, confirmed that there is no disagreement between the two countries on the Yemeni and Syrian files, Egypt-based Al-Shurooq newspaper emphasized that there are still tough tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia "over the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen and Syria" .Saudi Arabia, Egyptian news paper claimed, is paving the way "for the Muslim Brotherhood to ascend to power in Yemen... and Egypt considers this a red line."

 

But who is telling the truth? Saudi and Egyptian foreign ministers or Al-Shurooq? However, looking more precisely, one can see there is a gap between what Al-Jubair said and what Shukri said about the same issue.

While Riyadh is a key backer of rebels and terrorists who are fightng Assad's government; Egypt's government, which is deeply suspicious of religiously inspired movements throughout the region, says Assad will have to be part of a negotiated settlement.

 

Riyadh is clear that the fall of Assad is the first step to putting an end to the Syrian tragedy. Cairo, though, seems hesitant and has not yet decided what it wants. It is no wonder that Cairo's diplomatic discourse is generalized, vague and indirect. This begs the question as to whether such vagueness implies a vision that is contrary to that of the Saudis and ambiguity is nothing but courtesy toward Saudi Arabia. The fact is that in as much as Egypt needs Saudi Arabia, the latter also needs Egypt. Why then is direct language used here but not there?

 

The main difference between Riyadh and Cairo is that of priority. Riyadh believes the resisting Iranian influence in the region is the most pressing issue, as seen in its intervention in Yemen, while Sisi believes the priority is to stop the influence of Islamists as they represent an existential threat to his regime.

There are also disagreements between Cairo and Riyadh on Syria and Yemen. On Syria, Sisi believes that a political solution is needed, which should include Bashar al-Assad, while Saudi supports military options. The Saudi-led action in Yemen has also affected trust, because Sisi has had relations with the Ansarullah movement and the deposed president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, while they are Al Saud's enemies.

Touching on Russia’s support for Syrian government, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said that Egypt has talked to Moscow officials. The Russians want a political solution to the Syrian crisis, which is supported by Egypt.

 

Divided over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, Arab countries have kept silent over Russian air strikes in Syria, apart from Cairo which openly supports Moscow's campaign. Egypt, welcomed the Russian campaign as a measure to fight terrorist groups like ISIS.

"We believe that the (Russian intervention) will impact the fight against terrorism in Syria and help eliminate it," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said in New York.

It seems that Egypt's Sisi in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy that seeks to revive the camp of authoritarian nationalism in the face of Islamist movements, rather than Saudi Arabia who is trapped in Syria and Yemen cases.

 



Tags :

Comments
Name :
Email :
* Text :
Send

Gallery

Photo

Film

Gaza schools are the targets of the Zionist regimes attacks

Gaza schools are the targets of the Zionist regimes attacks