Saudi Ambassador Returns to Egypt to “buy off” Egypts Military Leaders

Saudi Ambassador Returns to Egypt
By KAREEM FAHIM – 5 May, 2012

CAIRO — Saudi Arabia’s ambassador returned to Egypt on Saturday, a week after the Saudi government closed its embassy in response to protests there in the worst diplomatic rift in years between the two countries.

The return of the ambassador, Ahmed Qattan, followed a week of feverish efforts by Egypt’s military rulers and politicians to heal the relationship, fearing the loss of billions of dollars in aid from Saudi Arabia in the midst of an economic crisis.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi news agency on Friday, Saudi officials said they had decided to return the ambassador after a visiting Egyptian delegation, including the speaker of Parliament, expressed “noble and sincere feelings” toward the Saudis.

The crisis followed days of protests outside the Saudi Embassy and its consulates by Egyptians angered over the arrest of an Egyptian human rights lawyer in Saudi Arabia. The lawyer, Ahmed el-Gizawy, had been working to call attention to the detentions of hundreds of Egyptian citizens in Saudi Arabia.

His arrest touched a nerve in Egypt, where many families rely on remittances from relatives who work in Persian Gulf states, usually under a restrictive employee sponsorship system. For years, human rights workers in Egypt have complained about the government’s reluctance, for fear of offending its allies, to speak up about cases of abuse.

Mr. Gizawy’s family said his activism was the reason for his arrest on April 17, when they said he was charged with insulting the Saudi monarch. The Saudi government denied it, and accused him of smuggling prescription drugs. Mr. Gizawy is still in custody. …more