Egypt–Qatar relations are the

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

relations between the State of Qatar and the

Arab Republic of Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palest ...

. They first began in 1972.

Diplomatic representation

By January 1973, just two years after Qatar gained its independence, Egypt was among the eighteen countries that Qatar appointed an ambassador to.

Political disputes

Egypt boycotted the MEMA Conference in Qatar in 1997 after asserting that Qatar was financing Islamic militant organizations in Egypt. They also accused Qatar's media of harboring an anti-Egypt agenda. The conflict was mediated by Saudi Arabia later that year, but weeks after the intervention, Qatari authorities laid off 700 Egyptian workers in private and public sectors. During the conference, the Qatari foreign minister accused Egypt of supporting the 'plotters', referring to the 110 individuals tried over the February 1996 counter-coup attempt against emir

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (; born 1 January 1952) is a member of Qatar's royal family, the House of Thani. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 until 2013 when he abdicated the throne, handing power to his fourth son Tamim bin Hamad Al ...

. Qatar began denying entry visas to Egyptian citizens and reportedly harassed Egyptian laborers.

Strained relations in the post-Morsi era (2013–2021)

Following mass protests in 2013 against the Qatar-backed Islamist Egyptian president

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012removed from office. This led to an increase in tensions between Qatar and Egypt, with a number of Arab states backing Egypt in this dispute. Qatar was chastized by several Arab states for its harboring of

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi (; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn ...

, a Muslim cleric who was alleged to have had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

. In March 2014, three Arab states removed their ambassadors from Qatar in protest of alleged interference by Qatar in their internal affairs, which included financially supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Around December 2014, Qatar moved to mend relations with Egypt amid pressure from other Persian Gulf countries, primarily

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. In February 2015, a month after the death of

Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (, ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015. Prior to his accession, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia si ...

, another rift in relations emerged after Egypt conducted an airstrike over an

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

bastion in Libya following the beheading of Egyptian

Copts Copts (; ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptians, Egyptian population, des ...

. The airstrikes were condemned by the Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera, which broadcast images depicting what appeared to be civilian victims. Additionally, Qatar's foreign ministry expressed reservations over the airstrikes. This prompted Tariq Adel, Egypt's delegate to the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

, to accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism. Egyptian citizens also launched an online campaign denouncing Qatar. The GCC rejected Egypt's accusations and its secretary general regarded the statements to be false. Shortly afterward, Qatar recalled its ambassador to Egypt for consultations.

2017 diplomatic crisis

On 5 June 2017, the government of Egypt, along with those of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, announced the severance of their diplomatic relations with Qatar. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced it was closing its operations to Qatari transportation. The Egyptian, Saudi, Bahraini, and Emirati governments cited Qatar's continuing alleged support for terrorism, such as the

. The

Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood ( ''jamāʿat /al-ikhwan/el-ekhwan al-muslimīn'', ) is a Sunni Islamist religious, political, and social movement,Eric Trager,The Unbreakable Muslim Brotherhood", ''Foreign Affairs'', September October 2011, p. ...

is banned by the government and considered a terrorist organization. Islam Hassan argues "Egypt has had troubled relations with Qatar for many years, except during the presidential period of

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012

Resumption of diplomatic relations (2021–present)

On 20 January 2021, Egypt agreed to resume diplomatic relations with Qatar, making it the first country to officially do so under an Arab deal to end the dispute. In June 2021, Amr Kamal Eddin al-Sherbiny was appointed the Egyptian ambassador to Qatar. In July 2021, Salem Mubarak Al Shafi was appointed the Qatari ambassador to Egypt. On 24 June 2022, Qatar's Emir

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (; born 3 June 1980) is Emir of Qatar, reigning since 2013. Tamim is the fourth son of former emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, born to his second spouse, Moza bint Nasser, Moza bint Nassir. He became heir ...

met with Egyptian President

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

on his first official visit to Egypt since 2015. They discussed diplomatic and economic relations after Qatar and Egypt had signed investments contracts worth more than US$5 billion in March 2022.

Al Jazeera

In the early years after Al Jazeera's formation in 1996, it was often involved in criticism of then-President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

, which prompted retaliation from Mubarak and the Egyptian media. In 1997, Egypt sent the head of its intelligence agency, Omar Suleiman, to respond to the news network's criticism of the Egyptian government. In an interview in 2002, Mubarak blamed Al Jazeera for "spreading friction, enmity and instability among Arab countries". A US diplomatic cable leaked from 2010 revealed that Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani told US senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

that he made an offer to Mubarak in which he would 'stop Al Jazeera for a year' if Egypt agreed to deliver a lasting settlement to the Palestinians during that period. The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who briefly ruled Egypt from 2012 to 2013, was removed from office in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule, and the Egyptian authorities soon afterward cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood and media outlets closely linked to it—including Al Jazeera, which provided several prominent Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen with media platforms. This culminated in the arrests of Al Jazeera journalists

Mohamed Fahmy Mohamed Fadel Fahmy ( ; born April 27, 1974) is an Egyptian-born Canadian journalist, war correspondent and author. He has worked extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, for CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera English. Fahmy covered the Iraq Wa ...

, Peter Greste and Baher Ghorab in December 2013. Al Jazeera ceased broadcasts of its Egyptian channel Mubasher Misr in December 2014 following accusations that the network was "damaging national security and unity". In December 2016, Mahmoud Hussein, an Egyptian journalist working for Al Jazeera, was arrested and later held in prison without being charged or going through trial. He was accused of "incitement against state institutions broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos", charges which were denied by Hussein and Al Jazeera, the latter of which called for his release. He was released on 6 February 2021. In September 2022, Al Jazeera journalist Ahmed al-Najdi was released after spending two years in pre-trial detention. On 1 May 2023, Egyptian Al Jazeera journalist Hisham Abdel Aziz was released after being detained without trial for four years. He was accused of "spreading false information" and "membership of a terrorist group" when he was arrested in June 2019. Two other Egyptian Al Jazeera journalists, Bahaa Eldin Ibrahim and Rabie el-Sheikh, are still being detained as of May 2023.

Economic relations

From January 2003 to June 2014, Egypt accounted for the largest share of all financial investments made by Qatari firms at 31.1 percent. During the one-year reign of

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Egyptian Embassy in Doha

Qatari Embassy in Cairo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egypt-Qatar relations

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...