CAIRO: Egypt will end visa-free entry for Qatari nationals with some exceptions, the Egyptian foreign ministry said yesterday, the latest measure taken against Doha which Cairo and three Gulf governments are boycotting.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar on June 5, cutting diplomatic and transport ties with the tiny Gulf monarchy, after accusing it of financing militant groups and allying with their regional arch-foe Iran.
Privileges
“It does not make sense to keep making exceptions for Qatar and giving it privileges in light of its current positions,” said foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid.
Qatari nationals will now have to apply for a visa in order to enter Egypt.
Qatari nationals with Egyptian mothers, those married to Egyptians, and Qataris studying in Egypt will be exempt from having to apply for a visa, he added.
Sources at Cairo International Airport said the decision would be implemented as of Thursday.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told his Kuwaiti counterpart earlier in the day that Egypt is standing by the list of demands it and the three Gulf countries made of Qatar and will keep sanctions against Doha in place.
Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts between Qatar and the four Arab states boycotting it.
Its top diplomat Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah met Shoukry and President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi in Cairo yesterday.
“The Foreign Minister affirmed to his Kuwaiti counterpart Egypt’s commitment to the list of demands presented to the state of Qatar and the continuation of sanctions taken against it,” Abu Zeid said in a statement earlier.
The insistence comes “in light of what the quartet states see as Qatar’s stalling and procrastination, and lack of concern for the concerns of the four states,” he said.
Shoukry told Sabah the only way the crisis would be resolved was if Qatar fulfilled the demands, which include curtailing its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, shutting down the pan-Arab Al Jazeera satellite TV channel, closing a Turkish military base and downgrading its relations with rival Iran.
Sisi told Sabah he appreciated what the Amir of Kuwait, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, was doing to preserve Arab unity but that Egypt would not let anyone interfere in its affairs and would stand strong against policies that support terrorism, his spokesman Alaa Youssef said in a statement.