Egypt to remove barricades from all foreign embassies to ease traffic

Minister's announcement follows British embassy's closure after security review

The British embassy in Cairo, where a security review was carried out. EPA

Barricades at foreign embassies in Egypt will be removed to ease traffic flow, according to statements from Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on the sidelines of a media forum in Cairo on Saturday night.

Mr Abdelatty said that “once and for all, all barriers in front of foreign embassies in Egypt will be removed and all roads will be cleared to ease the movement of cars and pedestrians”.

The announcement, published in state-affiliated daily Al Masry Al Youm, came one week after the British embassy in Cairo said it would be temporarily closing its main office in Garden City district to review its security after Egyptian authorities removed barricades there.

The embassy reopened two days after the review and “engagements with Egyptian authorities”, it said on its social media channels.

A week before the barriers were removed, a press release from Mr Abdelatty's office said that Egypt would adopt a principle of reciprocity towards Britain and embassy security.

Cairo was irked by a series of protests outside its embassies in western cities, including London and Paris, that were critical of Egypt's role in Israel’s war in Gaza.

A number of government officials, including the president and prime minister, denounced these criticisms and said that they were funded by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, which continues to operate outside Egypt.

Proponents of this shift towards reciprocity in foreign policy feel that foreign governments are not doing enough to protect Egyptian state institutions and interests from attacks by its opponents, viewed as terrorists by Cairo.

Egyptian citizens appear to be largely in favour of the decision, as many foreign embassies are located in central neighbourhoods in Cairo whose traffic is often made much worse by the closing off of streets to accommodate the security requests of foreign countries.