Egypt names ambassador to Qatar amid improving relations

Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi has appointed a new ambassador to Qatar as relations between the two Arab countries are improving after strains of more than three years.

Egypt’s Official Gazette published Al Sissi’s decree naming career diplomat Amr Al Sherbini as a new ambassador to Qatar.

Earlier this month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry visited Qatar, the first visit by such a senior Egyptian official to Doha since the two countries restored diplomatic ties earlier this year.

The step came weeks after Egypt signed a declaration at a Gulf summit held in the Saudi city of Al Ula in January ending a dispute between Qatar and a Saudi-led bloc including Cairo.

In April, Al Sissi and Qatar’s Emir Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani exchanged congratulations on the start of Ramadan, marking their first joint talk since the end of the regional dispute.

The national Egyptian and Qatari airlines restarted flights between the two countries in a sign of a thaw in ties.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had severed diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar in mid-2017.