The Egyptian foreign ministry on Monday said it will end visa-free entry to Qatari citizens from July 20, Reuters reported. Cairo, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have been in a diplomatic standoff with Qatar since they cut ties with the country on June 5.
“It does not make sense to keep making exceptions for Qatar and giving it privileges in light of its current positions,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid. According to the report, only Qatar citizens married to Egyptians, with Egyptian mothers, and those studying in Egypt will be exempt from getting a visa.
The diplomatic standoff
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt had severed diplomatic relations with Qatar accusing it of backing terrorism. Other countries in the region had followed. The US President had initially praised Saudi’s move to isolate Qatar. However, the US had later signed an agreement with Qatar on measures the isolated Gulf nation can take to curb the funding of militancy, and attempted to mediate the crisis.
The list presented to Qatar by the Arab countries demanded that it cut ties with Iran, hand over extremists and shut down Al Jazeera. It also demanded compensation and called for an end to Turkey’s military presence in Qatar, among other things.
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