Qatar pledges to not interfere in Egypt’s affairs, change Al-Jazeera orientation, officials tell Reuters

Reuters , Wednesday 20 Jan 2021

He also pledged a change of orientation for Qatar’s Al-Jazeera television channel, which is state-funded, and state-owned media outlets towards Cairo, the sources said.

A Qatari foreign ministry official pledged in a meeting with Egyptian and Emirati security officials on Saturday that Qatar would not interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs, two Egyptian intelligence sources told Reuters.

He also pledged a change of orientation for Qatar’s Al-Jazeera television channel, which is state-funded, and state-owned media outlets towards Cairo, the sources said.

This comes as Egypt and Qatar have agreed to resume diplomatic relations, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Wednesday, making Cairo the first to officially do so under an Arab deal to end a long-running dispute with Doha.

Qatar’s foreign minister had said in televised remarks after the Arab deal was announced that Al Jazeera is an independent media institution.

The Egyptian intelligence sources also said the officials agreed on economic cooperation and a series of meetings on outstanding issues such as Libya and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The officials agreed to restore diplomatic relations between Egypt and Qatar “under probation,” as one source put it.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the kingdom expects to reopen its embassy in Qatar within days, and full diplomatic relations between the two would resume.

The UAE, which followed Riyadh in reopening all entry points to Qatar, has said restoring diplomatic ties will take time. Bahrain has reopened its air space to Qatar, as has Egypt.

*The story was edited by Ahram Online

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