Egypt President El Sisi and Qatar's Sheikh Tamim in rare face-to-face at Cop26

Leaders' meeting on sidelines of Glasgow summit is only the second in nearly 10 years

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim meeting on the sidelines of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Photo: Egyptian presidency

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has met the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, on the sidelines of Cop26 in Glasgow.

The two leaders met in August on the sidelines of a summit in Baghdad on Iraq – the first between them in nearly a decade and which was labelled at the time as a significant step in normalising relations between the two Arab nations after years of tension.

No details were revealed on what President El Sisi and Sheikh Tamim discussed in Glasgow. The Egyptian presidency reported the meeting taking place and issued two photos showing them smiling and shaking hands.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain severed ties with Qatar in June 2017. In January, the five nations signed AlUla Declaration to end the diplomatic and travel boycott of Qatar and to mend relations. They have since reopened their air space and borders.

In June, Mr El Sisi appointed an ambassador to Qatar. Last year, the Egyptian leader met in Cairo with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, who is also deputy prime minister.

Rishi Sunak, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, holds his green box at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, before a meeting a group of finance ministers. PA

Indigenous leaders in ceremonial dress gather at the McLennan Arch in Glasgow Green to march to the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, announcing their arrival at the Cop26 summit. PA

Rishi Sunak delivers a speech to Cop26 delegates. Getty Images

Police officers guarding an inflatable Loch Ness Monster at Govan Dry Dock after it was seized in a dawn raid in Glasgow. PA

Police and demonstrators at a Extinction Rebellion protest on Buchanan Street, during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. PA

Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor, speaks to a TV crew at the summit. PA

A quote from a message delivered by Britain's Queen Elizabeth to the Cop26 Summit taking place in Glasgow is displayed at Piccadilly Circus in London. AFP

Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, makes his point. AP Photo

Indigenous Amazon delegate Romancil Gentil Kreta wears a Cop26 branded face mask. Reuters

Delegates arrive for another day at the summit in Glasgow. AP Photo

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivers a speech at the opening of Finance Day at Cop26. AFP

Relations between Cairo and Doha were tense even before 2017. In 2013, Mr El Sisi, as defence minister, led the military’s removal from power of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist president backed by Qatar. His removal led to years of animosity between Egypt and Qatar.

Qatari commercial interests in Egypt, a mix of state and private investments mainly in hotels, banking and property, were largely unaffected by the tensions.