 | |
 Egypt |  Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Egypt, Riyadh | Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Cairo |
Historically, relations between theArab Republic of Egypt and theKingdom of Saudi Arabia could be considered as extending several centuries back to the relations between earlier regimes in Egypt – the highly autonomousEgypt Eyalet in theOttoman Empire and theKingdom of Egypt – and the earlier manifestations of Saudi/Wahhabi power in the Arabian Peninsula (Emirate of Diriyah). Saudi Arabia and Egypt are both highly influential countries in theArab world. Egypt is the most populous Arab country, and Saudi Arabia is a member of theG20. According to a 2013 Pew global opinion poll, 78% ofEgyptians express a favourable view of Saudi Arabia, and 19% express an unfavourable view.[1]
Between 1811 and 1818Ibrahim Pasha, son ofMuhammad Ali of Egypt, governor ofEgypt, led a campaign against theEmirate of Diriyah – as the First Saudi State was known – on behalf of theOttoman Empire.Egyptian Armed Forces led by Ibrahim conqueredHejaz andNejd and brought that first Saudi state to an end.
In 1924King Abdulaziz attempted to improve the relations with theKingdom of Egypt sending a cable toKing Fuad on the inauguration of the firstEgyptian Parliament.[2] However, the relations between two states became strained after 1926 due to several reasons, including thecaliphate issue and remained the same until 1936.[2] On 7 May 1936 a treaty was signed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia in Cairo which included Egypt's recognition of Saudi Arabia as an independent and sovereign state.[2][3] The treaty normalized the relations and initiated the diplomatic relations between two countries.[2][3]
In the years immediately after theEgyptian Revolution of 1952 relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia were cordial, driven by mutual suspicion of theHashemites reigning in Jordan and (especially) Iraq at the time, and continuing from an anti-Hashemite alliance formed by King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, KingFarouk of Egypt and PresidentShukri al-Quwatli of Syria after the foundation of theArab League in 1945. Subsequently, Nasser andKing Saud co-operated to limit the reach of theBaghdad Pact, which they felt was designed to increase the influence ofHashemite Iraq. As a result, the two countries signed a bilateral military pact in 1955 and worked to successfully preventJordan from joining the Baghdad Pact. Egypt came to have extensive involvement in the Saudi army, economy and education system. However, the alliance was undermined by Saudi anxieties about the Egyptian government's promotion of anti-monarchical forces in the Arab World (including the uncovering of an Egyptian-style Saudi Free Officers Movement and increasing labour unrest). Egypt's increasing shift towards theSoviet Union, and efforts by Iraq and its western allies including theUnited States and theUnited Kingdom to drive a wedge between the two countries.[4] By 1958 this deterioration in the relationship had led to King Saud offering a bribe of £1.9 million toAbdel Hamid al-Sarraj, the head ofSyrian intelligence at the time and later Vice-President of theUnited Arab Republic, to secure the assassination of Nasser.[5]
Thus under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt, backed by theSoviet Union, came to represent theNon-Aligned Movement andpan-Arabism,[6] and was a nominal advocate ofsecularism andrepublicanism. Pro-Nasser governments were often military dictatorships founded after a military coup against a conservative monarchy, such as Libya after the1969 Libyan coup d'état. The Saudis, by contrast, were strong supporters ofabsolute monarchy andIslamisttheocracy, and were generally close to the governments of theUnited Kingdom andUnited States. The Saudi-Egyptian rivalry was the main conflict of theArab Cold War. For example, in theNorth Yemen Civil War, Nasser supportedArab republicans against thepro-Saudi Yemeni monarchy.
Relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia warmed considerably during Sadat's rule, with the Saudis playing a key role in persuading Sadat to carry out the expulsion of 20,000Soviet Armed Forces advisers from Egypt in 1972.[7][8]
The Saudis also doubled the amount of money they sent to Egypt in subsidies in the early 1970s to $200 million a year, bought FrenchMirage fighter jets on the Egyptians' behalf to reduce their reliance on Soviet military technology, and offered low-interest loans to Egypt. In 1973 The Egyptian and Saudi governments also co-ordinated theOctober - Yom Kippur War with theOPEC oil embargo against Israel's western allies, leading to the1973 oil crisis.[8] Sadat agreed to end the Egyptian ban on the activities of theMuslim Brotherhood after Saudi requests to rehabilitate thousands of members of the movement who had been imprisoned or exiled, many of whom were granted asylum in Saudi Arabia.[9]
However Saudi Arabia, along with the rest of theArab League countries, suspended diplomatic relations with Egypt in protest of theEgypt–Israel peace treaty after the Arab League minister's meeting in Baghdad calling for an economic and diplomatic boycott of Egypt.[10] And on 2 April, 1979, the Saudi ambassador left Cairo.[10]
Mubarak's Egypt (1981 — 2011) continued the conservative dictatorship closely allied with the United States that started under Sadat, though sought to repair ties with the Arab nations broken in 1979. It would be another six years of Mubarak in office before theArab League allowed individual countries to decide on their own relations with Egypt, and on 17 November, 1987,King Fahd announced that Saudi Arabia would officially resume diplomatic ties with Egypt to bolster Arab solidarity.[11] They followedKuwait, theUnited Arab Emirates,Yemen,Morocco andIraq.[11] A solidarity that was needed in light of the Iran-Iraq war.[12]
During the boycott, Saudi - Egyptian relations continued in non-political sectors such as culture and some aid, where princeTalal bin Abdulaziz made a rare visit during the boycott by a high level member of theSaudi royal family to Egypt in 1984 asUNICEF envoy and head of the Arab Gulf Program for the United Nations Development (AGFUND), inaugurating projects funded by the agencies,[13] and meeting the influentialMinister of Information,Safwat al-Sharif.[14] During his visit, Talal praised the civilian role of thearmed forces and stated how "Egypt is the heart of the Arab World and is indispensable."[13][14]
Nevertheless, over Mubarak's three decade rule, there remained a rivalry between the two countries, both aspiring to preeminence in the Arab World in general and among the Arab allies of the US in particular. This rivalry manifested itself, for example, when U.S. PresidentBarack Obama made a major tour of the Middle East in 2009, soon after assuming power. The Saudis resented Obama's choice of Cairo as the venue for making a key policy speech, and State Department officials made an effort to mollify them by following up the Cairo speech with a high-profile Presidential visit to the Saudi capital.
During the2011 Egyptian revolution,Saudi King Abdullah expressed support forHosni Mubarak. "No Arab or Muslim can tolerate any meddling in the security and stability of Arab and Muslim Egypt by those who infiltrated the people in the name of freedom of expression, exploiting it to inject their destructive hatred. As they condemn this, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and government declares it stands with all its resources with the government of Egypt and its people."[15] He condemned the "people who tried to destabilise the security and stability of Egypt."[16]
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On 28 April 2012, Saudi Arabia announced the closure of itsCairo embassy and its consulates inAlexandria andSuez, following Egyptian protests over the detention of the Egyptian lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawi in Saudi Arabia.[17][18]
Earlier in April 2012, al-Gizawi was detained shortly after his arrival in Saudi Arabia, which some believe was because he defamedKing Abdullah by filing a lawsuit in a South Cairo court against Saudi monarch King Abdullah on behalf of Egyptian citizens held without charge in Saudi prisons.[19] Saudi authorities said he was arrested at theKing Abdulaziz International Airport nearJeddah on 17 April for possession of 21,000Xanaxanti-anxiety pills, which are banned in the country.[18] They expressed doubt that he intended to go on apilgrimage, as he was not wearing the typical white pilgrim dress (Ihram).[17] According to his wife, he was sentencedin absentia to a year in prison and 20lashes after he arrived for a pilgrimage.
An estimated 1,000 Egyptian protesters demonstrated in front of the Saudi embassy in Cairo on 27 April, demanding the release of al-Gizawi and of the other Egyptians held in Saudi jails.[18] Following the protests Saudi authorities announced the closure of the Saudi embassy and other consulates in Egypt. Egypt's head of military council,Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, said Egypt is working to heal the rift with Saudi Arabia over the surprise decision.[18] Observers said that it is the worst fall-out in relations between the two countries since Saudi Arabia severed its ties with Egypt in 1979.[17]
Soon after the embassy incident, Saudi Arabia announced that they would return ambassadorAhmad Abdulaziz Kattan and his envoy to Egypt after feverish efforts by Egyptian politicians, fearing the loss of aid, to gain back Saudi favor.[20] King Abdullah said that he could "not allow this passing crisis to go on for long".[21]
On 10 May 2012, ambassador Kattan announced that the kingdom agreed to provide US$500 million in aid to Egypt and will deposit an additional US$1 billion at the country's central bank as part of the $2.7 billion support package they had agreed in 2011.[22] Saudi Arabia will also export $250 million worth ofbutane to Egypt, which has faced ongoing shortages of the fuel,[23] as well as US$200 million to help small and mid-sized firms. The donation was part of a move by multipleGulf states to send a large aid package to Egypt.[22]
Egyptian PresidentMohamed Morsi's first official visit was to Saudi Arabia in July 2012,[24] although he was the presidential candidate of theMuslim Brotherhood, whose views are not fully aligned with those of the Saudi government.[25] At the time, Saudi journalistJamal Khashoggi stated that Saudi Arabia is a pragmatic country and that whoever the president of Egypt is, Saudi government is aware of the fact that it has to maintain good relations with this country.[25]
Saudi Arabia was among the various countries that explicitly welcomed the appointment of the interim government following theJuly 2013 removal of Morsi from office.[26][27] Soon afterward, relations between the two countries improved greatly.
In April 2016, KingSalman of Saudi Arabia made a five-day visit to Egypt, during which the two countries signed economic agreements worth approximately $25 billion and also made an agreement to "return"Tiran andSanafir, two Egyptian-administered islands in theGulf of Aqaba, to Saudi control. The announcement of the transfer of the islands provoked a backlash in Egypt, in both social media and traditional media, including outlets which had been firmly supportive of the Egyptian presidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi.[28]
Over the issue between Saudi Arabia and Egypt on Sanafir and Tiran, talks betweenYitzhak Molcho from Israel andSameh Shoukry, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, were leaked, according to theMiddle East Monitor.[29] TheMuslim Brotherhood is linked to the "Middle East Monitor".[30] TheMiddle East Eye leaked the audio.[31]Muslim Brotherhood supporters are connected to the "Middle East Eye".[32]Eric Trager noted that the tape was leaked by an agency run by the Muslim Brotherhood.[33]
Egypt has also strongly backed the Saudi stance during theQatar diplomatic crisis.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia pledged an amount of $7 million for developmental projects in Egypt.[34]
In May 2021, the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Egypt said that citizens traveling to Egypt have to buy an entry visa upon arrival for $25 and can pay immediately on arrival.[35] On March 12, 2025, the Parliament ofEgypt approved a bilateral investment protection agreement withSaudi Arabia. The agreement aims to enhance capital inflows, generate employment opportunities, and strengthen economic relations between the two countries.[36]
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