Egypt’s el-Sisi says position on Qatar ‘unchanged’

Egypt‘s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the position of the Saudi-led bloc on relations with Qatar remains unchanged.

“I affirm that nothing has changed,” el-Sisi said in a reply to a question at the closing session of a youth forum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday.

“There are efforts being exerted and we hope this effort will succeed,” he said, without giving further details.

“We are talking about building confidence and healthy relations.”

Qatar has faced a blockade since June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and trade ties with Doha.

The four countries accuse Qatar of supporting “terrorism“. Doha has denied the allegations and accused its neighbours of seeking to curtail its sovereignty.

The blockading nations have demanded that Qatar cease interactions with their rival Iran, shut down Al Jazeera Media Network, and close a Turkish military base.

Doha has refused to do so.

In recent weeks, there have been signs pointing to a possible thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. 

In November, the three Gulf blockading countries took part in a regional football tournament in Qatar, reversing at the last minute an earlier decision to not participate.

But on Monday, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said it was premature to talk about real progress with Saudi Arabia over the blockade. He added, however, opening channels of communication between Doha and Riyadh was a step forward.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Sheikh Mohammed said it will take time to rebuild trust between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours after the two-and-a-half-year air, sea, and land blockade was imposed.

“We are still at a very early stage,” he said. “There is some progress … because we have [broken] the stalemate with the Saudis.”