Al Jazeera’s return to Egypt imminent, as Doha and Cairo reforge relationship

Almost a decade after authorities closed the Al Jazeera network bureau in Cairo, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry sat down on Monday with his Qatari counterpart and security advisers from both sides to discuss resuming the broadcaster’s activity in Egypt.

Egyptian authorities have targeted the network and its staff since the Qatari state broadcaster assumed overtly critical coverage of the political status quo following the 2013 ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood from government, with Shoukry himself pointedly removing a microphone bearing the branding of the Qatari state broadcaster from the table in front of him at a 2015 press conference in Khartoum.

Al Jazeera’s imminent return is now once again on the table in talks between Qatar and Egypt, forming part of Cairo’s foreign policy response to the exigencies of what government and diplomatic sources described to Mada Masr as a new political state of affairs, referring to the rapid shifts in regional policy and alliances.

Cairo’s gradual reconciliation with Doha has come in line with the broader Al-Ula reconciliation program being undertaken by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain — Egypt’s fellows in the “Arab Quartet,” all of whom severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in unison between 2017 and 2021. 

But a political source in the Gulf and a current official in Egypt both said that Doha and Cairo increasingly have their own portfolio of joint interests, particularly given a readiness from Qatar to make substantial investments in Egypt, such as the US$5 billion in investment deals announced earlier this week.

The resumption of Al Jazeera’s work in Egypt, which could now happen in a matter of weeks, is a file that’s been a subject of conversation between Egypt and Qatar for some time, the government official said. Monday’s meeting pertained to “specific details, questions and commitments from Qatar with regards to its coverage on Egyptian affairs,” the official added.

Egypt insists on there being absolutely no intervention in its internal affairs, whether politically or through media coverage, according to the Egyptian official, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity after the meeting between the two foreign ministers in Cairo on Monday.

Over the course of a year’s work to reforge ties with Qatar, an agreement has materialized that will see the Gulf nation refrain from funding channels that broadcast from Turkey and espouse views that are “hostile“ toward the Egyptian regime, said the same source. Doha was also tasked with putting an end to any political or legal actions being taken by Muslim Brotherhood figures residing on Qatari soil, including “legal campaigns targeting Egyptian officials under the guise of human rights violations.”

Al Jazeera will also be required to abide by certain conditions around the channel's editorial line, the government source said, adding that Egyptian security officials will also be "a direct partner" in choosing the bureau's chief and other staff.” Several media sources likewise told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that Al Jazeera’s imminent relaunch has been coordinated between the channel’s management and Egyptian authorities, including security officials.

Signaling the channel's return to Egypt, billboards for Al Jazeera were placed at various locations across Cairo, though the adverts have now been removed.

According to one of the media sources, the bureau is now set to operate from a site on the Nile corniche in central Cairo at the St. Regis Hotel, which is owned by the Qatari Diar Real Estate Company, a subsidiary of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

Some current Egyptian officials suggested Al Jazeera’s re-entry is part of a series of files that Cairo has opened with Doha, including issues relating to security, particularly given that Qatar has shown readiness to direct its investment dollars toward Egypt.

After Shoukry’s meeting with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday, the Cabinet announced the following day that Qatar would be granting Egypt US$5 billion in investments “over the coming period,” with no further details of the type of investments given.

“Other things are in the works,” said the Egyptian official, including Qatari investment in the new administrative capital. There is potential for acquisitions as well, they said, qualifying that no concrete deals have been finalized. “As they say in English, ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch.’ But some matters have been agreed upon and other matters will be conducted in the context of coordinated security efforts.”

A political source based in the Gulf likewise said that a wider deal between the two countries comprises of Qatari economic aid to Egypt, as well as Cairo’s commitment to the release of certain detainees.

Since Egypt undertook steps toward reconciliation with Qatar last year, Egyptian authorities have acted to release Mahmoud Hussein, an Al Jazeera correspondent who was arrested while visiting family in Egypt in December 2016 and detained for over four years on political charges until his release in February 2021. 

Toward the end of last year, Egyptian authorities also released Ola al-Qaradawi pending further investigation, while her husband, who was arrested alongside her in June 2017, is yet to be released. Qaradawi is the daughter of renowned Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, who currently resides in Qatar. 

However, the Egyptian official, who spoke with Mada Masr after the meeting between the Qatari and Egyptian foreign ministers said that the two countries’ relationship can’t be reduced to “ a trade-off of interests.” Issues regarding security between the two countries are “definitely influenced by the improvement in relations,” said the official, pointing to investment and aid packages as proof of strengthening ties, but security matters are dealt with “in accordance with strict security measures.”

A former Egyptian diplomat, meanwhile, described the growing relationship with Qatar as a result of shifting policy directions in the Gulf. “When the blockade on Qatar was first announced, at the behest of the Emirates — Egypt didn’t instigate what happened in 2017 — we had no idea that intra-Gulf relations would take such a turn,” said the diplomat. With the new administration in the US, however, the diplomat said, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both had to soften their stances in relation to Qatar in anticipation of “potential changes to the region’s political landscape.”

Several Gulf countries, as well as Israel, have recently shown concern over the accelerated pace of talks between the US and Iran to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – which the Saudis, Emiratis and Israelis had lobbied fiercely against – due to the need to reintegrate Tehran into the global economy to alleviate pressure on strained energy supplies. 

This “new reality" following Al-Ula, according to the same diplomat, was set in motion in much the same manner as the blockade, within the nexus of intra-Gulf relations: “Egypt was not directly involved in drafting the Al- Ula Summit agreement and only signed off after the GCC member states.” 

Yet the official who spoke to Mada Masr after Shoukry met Al Thani in Cairo on Monday said that Egypt’s foreign policy goals were expressed succinctly by Shoukry at the joint presser after Monday’s meeting. Egypt is not interested in entering into alliances with some countries against others. Although Cairo understands the apprehension from some Gulf states regarding an impending agreement between the West and Iran and would exercise caution with regard to Tehran, the official said, there is no intention of getting involved in any military alliances against Iran or anyone else.