Alwaght- Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in Cairo on Friday for his first visit to Egypt since 2017, when four Arab states, including Egypt, boycotted Doha.
The Qatari emir was received by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at Cairo International Airport, a courtesy only granted to leaders of heavyweight allies.
The two-day official visit is expected to include talks between the two leaders on bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in all fields.
The two sides are also expected to address the latest international and regional political issues of mutual interest, according to the Egyptian presidency.
Tamim's visit will see the signing of a number of economic agreements, and ensure Qatari investment in Egypt, especially in the energy field, state-run Ahram Online news website quoted a political source as saying.
Egyptian-Qatari relations deteriorated in 2013, when Egypt’s military removed from power the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by Qatar, and cracked down on his Muslim Brotherhood.
Doha, Qatar’s capital, eventually became a haven for fleeing Egyptian Islamists, and the state-owned Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera Television took a decided stance against el-Sissi’s government.
In 2017, Egypt joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a boycott of Qatar in an effort to force Doha to change its policies. With a wide-ranging trade embargo, a ban on Qatar-bound flights from their airspace and a media blitz, they called on Doha to end close relations with Turkey, Iran, and the Muslim Brotherhood across the region, and shutter its Al Jazeera news network.
Qatar rejected the quartet’s demands. It also denied claims by the quartet that it supports extremists.
In January 2021, the Arab quartet of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the Al-Ula Declaration with Qatar, ending their all-round boycott of Doha.
