Relations between Egypt and Qatar had been largely stable until 1996 when Al Jazeera, a Doha-based TV network, hit the airwaves. The broadcaster was critical of the Egyptian policy under the long-standing president Hosni Mubarak.
July 2010: Mubarak visits Qatar, signalling a thaw in ties with Doha after strains blamed on Al Jazeera’s attacks on Cairo for its alleged blessing of an Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip in late 2008.
January-February 2011: Al Jazeera extensively covers 11-day mass protests that eventually forces Mubarak out of power.
August 2012: Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa visits Egypt and meet with Mohammad Mursi, a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, who became Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
March 2013: Mursi visits Doha and attends a pan-Arab summit.
April 2013: Qatar announces buying Egyptian treasury bills worth of 3 billion dollars, bringing to $8 billion it has offered in aid to Egypt since Mursi took office.
August 2013: Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled Al Attia visits Cairo, the first such a trip to Egypt since the military deposed Mursi on July 3. Egypt’s army-backed government has since been the target of attacks in Al Jazeera reporting. The TV network closes its offices in Cairo few days after Mursi’s removal and continues to extensively antimilitary protests staged by Brotherhood’s followers, much to Cairo’s chagrin.
September 2013: An Egyptian court orders the closure of Al Jazeera in Cairo, accusing the broadcaster of slanting reporting.
December 2013: Egypt arrests four Al Jazeera reporters, accusing them of spreading false news and collaborating with the Brotherhood already designated by Cairo as a terrorist group.
January 4, 2014: Egyptian Foreign ministry summons the Qatari ambassador in Cairo to protest Doha’s pro-Brotherhood remarks.
