UAE, Kuwait playing marriage counselor for Egypt, Saudi? UAE’s state-owned The National declares in an editorial that Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed’s visit to Cairo last week “underscores the significance of Egypt as one of the most important parts of the Arab world” and is “proof that Egypt is not alone in facing these challenges. Arab allies in the region will continue to stand by Cairo … Egypt remains one of the most important countries in the Arab world. As such, the country is too important for the region to fail. Steps are being taken to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Kuwait’s El Rai, meanwhile, reports that the UAE and Kuwait are leading a heads-of-state level bid to mediate between Cairo and Riyadh. Citing senior Egyptian officials, the newspaper posits bin Zayed’s trip as part of that mediation, which follows a state visit he made weeks earlier to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman to discuss the tensions between the two countries. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry apparently also received calls from his Emirati, Kuwaiti, and Bahraini counterparts advising the Egyptian government to keep things on ice. The source does not explain the cause of the rift.