Egypt's newly-appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Qatar Amr El-Sherbini
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree on Wednesday appointing Amr El-Sherbini as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Qatar.
The decision was published in the state’s official Gazette as part of a diplomatic reshuffle of Egyptian diplomatic missions.
A veteran diplomat, El-Sherbini was a general ambassador in the Egyptian foreign ministry. He graduated from the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, and served as a diplomat in Syria and the United States. El-Sherbini later served as a Deputy Chief of the Mission in Brussels.
El-Sisi also appointed Mohamed Omar Gad as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Ethiopia instead of Ambassador Osama Abdel-Khalek, who has been appointed as Egypt’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
Ten days ago, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Doha in a trip that was the first for a top Egyptian official since Egypt signed the Al-Ula agreement for Arab reconciliation with Qatar, which ended a diplomatic and travel boycott by the Arab Quartet — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain — of Qatar since mid-2017.
Egypt and Qatar have recently signaled their will to improve relations and had official delegations meet for the first time in Kuwait in February to discuss enhancing joint work and bilateral ties.
The Al-Ula agreement was inked in January in Saudi Arabia, after intense Kuwaiti and US efforts to mend fences between the quartet and Doha.
The quartet cut diplomatic, economic, and travel ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of interfering in their internal affairs and supporting terrorist groups, accusations denied by Qatar.
Shoukry’s visit came a few weeks after his Qatari counterpart led a delegation on a visit to Cairo, during which he met with President El-Sisi and extended an official invitation to visit the Gulf country.
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