In the latest step to repair relations between Egypt and Qatar, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has named Amr El-Sherbiny as its Ambassador to Qatar after a three-year strife that resulted in the two countries’ severing of diplomatic ties.
The appointment was announced on Wednesday via Egypt’s official gazette. According to this, Amr El-Sherbiny has been appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the State of Qatar.
Prior to his nomination as Egypt’s Ambassador to Qatar, El-Sherbiny worked as the Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for United Nations Affairs at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 2015 to 2019, he served as the deputy chief of mission at the Egyptian Embassy in Brussels.
The decision comes after Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Doha, where he delivered a letter from Sisi to Qatar’s Ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, along with an official invitation to visit Cairo.
Egypt, alongside Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, cut its diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017 by imposing a blockade. In January 2021, these countries signed the Al Ula Declaration ending the diplomatic dispute.
Egypt and Qatar have been working to improve relations that have been strained in recent years after the announcement of the Gulf reconciliation last January.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia also appointed an ambassador to Doha. The appointment of Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan as the Saudi Ambassador in Qatar was welcomed by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
