Cairo: An Egyptian government delegation is soon to go to Qatar, the first such visit in more than a year as ties between the two Arab countries are increasingly warming.
The visit comes days after Qatar suspended a satellite TV channel, which had been a vociferous critic of the Egyptian government since the army deposed president Mohammad Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood group in mid-2013.
The team will visit the Qatari capital Doha for talks on the status of an Egyptian school there, allegedly controlled by the Brotherhood.
“This visit was previously scheduled, but has been repeatedly postponed in the past months,” Egyptian Education Minister Mahmoud Abu Al Nasr said on Wednesday. “The (visiting) officials will study readjusting the situation of the school and change of some of its curricula,” he added without elaborating.
In February, Egypt recalled its ambassador from Qatar, accusing the Gulf emirate of meddling in its affairs and of sheltering fugitive Islamists wanted in Egypt for allegedly inciting violence.
In a sign of improved ties, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi earlier this week met a Qatari envoy. A senior Saudi official attended the meeting in Cairo.
Saudi King Abdullah has made in recent months efforts to heal the rift between Egypt and Qatar amid media reports that leaders of the three countries will soon meet to seal reconciliation.
In a further sign of rapprochement, Abu Al Nasr said he had invited his Qatari education minister to attend an Arab education meeting Egypt is hosting later this month.
Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV network this week suspended the broadcasts of its Egypt Live subsidiary condemned by the Egyptian government as biased to the Brotherhood.
Egyptian state media quoted Al Sissi, while on a visit to China, as urging Qatar to take further steps to prove “good intentions and seriousness”.
Observers say Cairo wants Qatar to hand over wanted Brotherhood officials staying on its territory and halt alleged support for Islamist militants in Egypt’s troubled Libya.
