Egypt and Qatar inch towards detente after Saudi-brokered talks - FT.com
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“The Saudis are trying to narrow the gaps between Egypt and Qatar,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, an analyst at the Century Foundation in New York. “But they are not looking for a compromise, rather for a change in behaviour on the part of Qatar.”
Qatar’s independent foreign policy and its support for Islamists constitute an attempt to escape Saudi hegemony in the region, Mr Hanna said. That would make it difficult for Doha to “swallow a Saudi-led plan” requiring a radical change to its stance on regional affairs.
“We have seen some small steps, and the GCC policy is beginning to ease tensions but I think the Saudis and the Emiratis have expectations from Qatar which it may not be inclined to grant,” Mr Hanna added.
Omar Ashour, a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter and a non-resident fellow at Brooking Doha Center, believes there may be “a truce without major consequences for the foreign policy of either Egypt or Qatar.”
Qatar would like to see an end of “the smear campaign” against its royal family in the Egyptian press, Mr Ashour said, but he cast doubt on the prospect of Doha reining in Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr.