Reports of Meshaal's departure 'untrue': Qatar FM

Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah has dismissed reports that his country had asked Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to leave, while also stressing that there was no conflict between Doha and Cairo.

“All reports regarding Meshaal’s departure are untrue,” Al-Attiyah told a joint press conference held with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez in the Qatari capital.

Some Arab media outlets reported last week that Qatar had asked Meshaal to leave the country – a claim subsequently dismissed by the Palestinian group.

As for Qatar’s relations with Egypt, Al-Attiyah asserted that there was no “conflict” between the two countries.

“There are only differences and different points of view, and we are trying to bridge these differences,” Al-Attiyah said.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar now appear to be on the mend almost a year and a half after they had deteriorated following the ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi – who Qatar had supported – by the Egyptian military.

Egypt had accused Doha of interfering in its affairs by supporting the ousted leader’s Muslim Brotherhood group and hosting a number of wanted Brotherhood figures following Morsi’s overthrow.

Cairo has also been incensed by Qatari-owned Al Jazeera’s coverage of developments in Egypt and what it describes as biased news coverage against Egypt’s current military-backed authorities.

Egypt-Qatar relations, however, began to improve in recent months following mediation efforts by Arab Gulf states.