Qatar's top diplomat visits Egypt amid improving ties

Egypt’s president has met with Qatar’s chief diplomat amid improved relations since Egypt and three Gulf nations ended their dispute with the energy-rich country in January

CAIRO -- Egypt’s president met Tuesday with Qatar’s chief diplomat amid improved relations since Egypt and three Gulf nations ended their dispute with the energy-rich country in January. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, meeting in Cairo, agreed on "intensifying joint consultation and coordination” to boost bilateral ties between the two nations, el-Sissi’s office said in a statement. El-Sissi also received an invitation from Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to visit Doha. It would be the first for the Egyptian leader to the Gulf state since he led the military’s overthrow of an elected Islamist president in 2013 amid mass protests against his divisive one-year rule. El-Sissi was defense minister at the time. The Qatari chief diplomat also held talks with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry that discussed “the positive development” in ties between the two countries, according to a statement by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.