Cairo: Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials amid growing signs of improving ties between the two countries after strains of more than three years.
The Qatari official, who is leading a high-level delegation, will meet his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shukry for talks on cooperation links between Egypt and Qatar, the Egyptian semi-official newspaper Akhbar Al Youm reported. They will also discuss the latest developments in the region including the Palestinian problem amid efforts to shore up a ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers.
The two-day visit is part of an Arab region that already took the Qatari minister to Egypt’s neighbours Libya and Sudan to discuss the regional scene.
Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad have exchanged congratulations on the start of the holy month of Ramadan, according to Egyptian media, marking their first joint talk since a regional dispute ended earlier this year.
The Egyptian presidency said that Al Sissi received a phone call from the Qatari emir congratulating him on the beginning of Ramadan.
“The president expressed during the contact his tanks to the Emir of State of Qatar for his congratulation on this blessed occasion, praying to Almighty God to render it an occasion full of bounty, prosperity and blessings for people of the two brotherly countries and all Arab and Islamic countries,” spokesman for the Egyptian presidency Bassam Radi said, according to local media.
GCC leaders laud Biden’s inauguration Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
Kuwait City and Cairo: Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa has congratulated Joe Biden on his inauguration as the US president, wishing him success in his presidential duties, and hailing longstanding ties between both countries.
The Kuwaiti Emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah, on behalf of the Kuwaiti people, congratulated Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America.
Bahrain-US relations
The Bahraini leader expressed pride in “the longstanding, historic relations and solid partnership spanning over 120 years” between Bahrain and the US, the official Bahraini news agency BNA reported. King Hamad added in a cable of congratulations to Biden that he looks forward to further consolidating strategic ties between Bahrain and the US and” developing joint cooperation and coordination for strengthening common interests “in all fields.
Trump’s past era was also linked with a diplomatic war in the Near East between Qatar and other Gulf countries. Oman and Kuwait stayed neutral in this conflict. However, earlier this year, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, which includes all Gulf countries besides Iran and Iraq, signed a document on unity that crossed out more than three years of the emirate’s blockade. In his next column for our newspaper, Realnoe Vremya’s columnist Karim Gaynullin reflects on why Qatar turned out to be a winner in this situation.
“The Gulf countries think that Qatar doesn’t follow the agreement’s provisions”