Are Egyptian-Saudi disputes just a passing crisis or a decisive storm?
Egyptian-Saudi squabbles over Syria and Yemen have gone viral, and some worry that this will have a lasting negative effect on the relationship between Cairo and Riyadh.
CAIRO — Egypt has witnessed a severe crisis in its relations with Saudi Arabia, the most potent ally of the Egyptian political regime that came to power following the June 30, 2013, popular protests that led to the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood’s regime. The crisis was prompted by Egypt's voting in a UN Security Council session Oct. 10 to support Russia’s draft resolution concerning the situation in Syria.
The Russian draft resolution called for bringing humanitarian aid into besieged areas, urging all parties to halt offensive operations and stressing that moderate Syrian opposition forces must separate from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham — formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra. The draft was unacceptable to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which seeks to depose the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and which viewed Egypt’s vote for the resolution as a deviation from the Arab position.
Abdullah al-Mouallami, Saudi Arabia's representative to the United Nations, launched the kingdom’s first open attack on Egypt, describing the Egyptian representative’s vote in the Security Council for the Russian draft resolution concerning the Syrian situation as “painful.” He said, “It was painful that the stances taken by Senegal and Malaysia were much closer to the agreed-upon Arab decision than the stance of an Arab delegate — the Egyptian one. Though this is a dark day for the Syrian people, they do not know the meaning of darkness or despair and, God Almighty permitting, will prevail.”
These aggressive statements made by the kingdom’s representative drove the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to respond. Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zaid, a ministry spokesman, said the Saudi accusations against Egypt of deviating from the Arab consensus on the Syrian issue by voting for the Russian draft proposal were “not accurate” and “did not reflect reality.” He stressed that Egypt had voted in favor of the content of the resolution, not the state that sponsored the draft, and that Egypt could never stand against a draft resolution that called for a cease-fire, bringing in humanitarian aid and fighting the terrorism confronting the brotherly Syrian people.
