'His majesty the traitor': Egypt media attacks Saudi Arabia

Egyptian talk show hosts have taken shots at the kingdom and its military interventions in the region after its officials visited the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD].

Pro-government weekly al-Anba al-Dawliya published the headline "His majesty the traitor" on its front page on Tuesday next to a picture of Saudi's King Salman.

The subheaders read: "Salman goes against his brother's will, stops supplying petrol, issues GCC statement condemning Cairo, sends his advisors to visit the GERD and supports Ethiopia."

Ethiopia is building the GERD hydropower dam on the Nile close to its source in the Ethiopian highlands, raising fears in Egypt, which depends on controlling the flow of the Nile's waters for its survival.

On Friday, Ahmed al-Khatib, a senior advisor at the Saudi royal court, visited the dam and met Ethiopian officials to discuss the project.

Egyptian TV host Khaled Salah then attacked the Saudi government for its military interventions in Syria and Yemen, saying the kingdom was fighting a "losing war".

"Gulf countries have unfortunately shed much Arab blood in Syria and other places through buying media outlets," Salah said.

Columnist Abdel Latif al-Menawy wrote that the visit was a deliberate "passive aggressive" move that has come as the rift has shown no signs of improvement.

Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had been supported by billions of dollars in aid from Saudi Arabia, but ties have cooled between the two countries amid disagreements over Syria.

Saudi Arabia suspended oil shipments to Egypt in October, a move announced after Cairo backed a Russian-drafted resolution on Syria in the UN Security Council, angering Riyadh.

Sisi recently met with his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki in Cairo in a meeting that was a "deliberate move" against Ethiopia, political sources in Cairo told The New Arab.

Also this week, Qatar - another Gulf State with strained tensions with Cairo - signed 11 agreements and memoranda of understanding, to strengthen their bilateral relations with Ethiopia.