A Qatari delegation headed by Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi arrived in Cairo on Tuesday where he attended the opening ceremony of a luxury Qatari hotel in the Egyptian capital, only hours after Egypt and the Gulf countries inked the Al-Ula agreement for reconciliation with Qatar. 

 

The inauguration of the St Regis hotel, owned by Qatari real estate investment company Diar, was also attended by Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait and US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, the Qatari company posted on its Twitter page.

 

This visit is the first since standoff broke out three years back between Qatar and the Arab Quartet, which is made of  Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE.

 

In mid-2017, the four countries formed a diplomatic bloc to coordinate political stances in order to pressure Doha into ending what they deemed as Qatar's interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries and its support of terrorist organisations. The four countries severed all diplomatic and transport links with Qatar in June 2017.

 

Al-Ula agreement was signed during the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, in the presence of the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

 

The Leaders of the six-member GCC also signed a final communique.

 

The contents of the declaration and the communique are expected to be released to the press later.