The Egyptian government has freed the last two Al Jazeera journalists who remained in detention in the North African country after a ‘loosening up’ in relations with Qatar, the Doha-based network revealed on Friday.
Bahaa Eldin Ibrahim, one if the imprisoned journalists had returned home after being released, according to his wife Mona Gamal Eldin’s report.
Coincidentally, the head of Egypt’s journalism syndicate posted a photo on Facebook of the second journalist, Rabie el-Sheikh, at his home.
The journalists, both Egyptian nationals, had been held in pre-trial detention for around four years.
Ties between Egypt and Qatar had grown worsen after Egypt’s then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the dismissal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi in 2013, and thereafter, rose to presidency the following year.
Egypt had accused Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for the Islamist group, prohibiting the broadcaster and apprehending a good number of its journalists.
In 2017, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain set up a boycott of Qatar over charges of the country supporting terrorism, an accusation that Qatar promptly denied.
An agreement to stop the row was struck early in 2021, and Qatar and Egypt have moved quickly to rebuild relations.
The release of Ibrahim and Sheikh follows Egypt’s release of Al Jazeera journalists, Hisham Abdelaziz in May 2023, and Ahmed Al Nagdy in September 2022.
