The two countries ended a dispute that lasted more than three years, restoring their trade and travel operations.

Qatar and Egypt confirmed progress is being made to return to “warm” diplomatic relations following a three-year crisis, Doha’s state news agency [QNA] reported on Wednesday.

“We in the State of Qatar and the brothers in Egypt look at matters positively and strive for a return of warm relations,” said Qatar’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at a press conference following the 155th regular session of the Arab League Council in Cairo.

The foreign minister also met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in a meeting he said “was characterised by a positive spirit and optimism for the return of relations to normal”.

During the presser, Qatar’s foreign minister was questioned about the nature of his Doha’s relations with Iran and Turkey.

Read also: Qatar’s FM slams ‘unjustifiable’ Israeli action during Arab League meeting

Responding to the question, Al-Thani said there is often a “confusion between the bilateral relations of countries and the relations within the framework of the Arab League”, adding that Qatar refuses to interfere in any other country’s internal affairs. 

“Every country has the right to preserve its security and sovereignty and to take appropriate measures to achieve this,” he said.

Qatar chaired the 155th session of the Arab League on Tuesday. This was the FM’s first appearance in Cairo since the 2017 blockade was imposed on the Gulf state in 2017.

Egypt and Qatar reconciled in January after the signing of the al Ula Declaration, which ended a dispute that lasted more than three years.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE by imposed an illegal air, land and sea blockade on Qatar in 2017 over allegations it supports terrorism in the region. Doha has vehemently and consistently denied those allegations.

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