Egypt, Sudan stray further apart over Gulf crisis
Egypt is doubling down on its efforts to convince African countries to take a stance against Qatar, while Sudan decided to take a neutral position over the Gulf crisis.
CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi started his tour in Africa Aug. 14 and is scheduled to visit four countries, including Chad, Gabon, Rwanda and Tanzania. The visit comes after Cairo failed to persuade the African countries to take a stance against Qatar during the African Summit in Addis Ababa July 4 as part of its efforts to step up its measures against Qatar on the international arena through the United Nations.
Cairo is currently increasing its diplomatic talks in Africa to convince the African states to stand up against Qatar. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Algerian counterpart, Abdelkader Messahel, in Cairo Aug. 2, and the two exchanged opinions about the Qatar crisis and discussed the latest developments of the Libyan stalemate. Shoukry then left Cairo on the same day to Khartoum to hold bilateral deliberations with Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, and the Qatari crisis topped their agenda.
