Arab League attempts mediation between Saudi, Egypt

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit visited Saudi Arabia to meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz to attempt to mediate a reconciliation between the monarchy and Egypt following months of discord and recriminations, diplomatic sources revealed yesterday.

According to sources cited by Egyptian media outlets, Aboul Gheit was making attempts at trying to break the ice on relations that have been damaged by Egyptian diplomatic moves seen as hostile to the oil-rich monarchy, and Riyadh’s decision to freeze oil supplies to Cairo.

Aboul Gheit was apparently trying to bridge the schisms that have formed between the two countries and to see if he could bring their viewpoints into synchrony or at least acceptance of each other.

The diplomatic sources said that Aboul Gheit’s sudden visit to Saudi Arabia, which was not on his schedule diplomatic agenda, suggests that there are wider efforts to foster mediation, noting the Arab League’s executive office as having just announced the news about the visit recently.

An official statement issued by the Arab League said that the aim of Aboul Gheit’s visit to Saudi Arabia was to discuss with King Salman multilateral ties among Arab countries represented by the League.

“Aboul Gheit’s discussions with King Salman discussed the situation of the Arabs in general and the role of the Arab League in maintaining Arab unity, as well as the challenges currently facing Arab countries.”