Egypt, Qatar agree to resume diplomatic links

Cairo: Egypt said today it had agreed with Qatar to resume their diplomatic ties more than three years after severing them.

Earlier this month, Egypt signed a declaration at a Gulf summit held in the Saudi city of AlUla ending a dispute between Qatar and a Saudi-led bloc.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said today that as part of implementing mutual commitments mentioned in the AlUla Declaration, Egypt and Qatar exchanged official memorandums. “By virtue of these memorandums, the two countries agreed to resume their diplomatic relations,” the ministry said in a brief statement.

The move comes two days after the national Egyptian and Qatari airlines restarted flights between the two countries in a sign of a thaw in ties

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, ending a rift with Doha, have already reopened their airspaces with Qatar after the January 5 historic Gulf summit.