Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Qatar Says No More Aid to Cairo

Qatari Minister of Finance Youssef Kamel1639 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Riyadh Bureau notes that US Attorney General Eric Holder, in his Sunday press conference in the Saudi capital, expressed a keen interest in Saudi Arabia's counter-terrorism programme through "terrorist rehabilitation". Holder even said the program could be applied in the US, according to the Saudi Gazette,

Too many of our young people are disaffected and attracted to violent ideologies and so we want to work with our Saudi allies and examine the program and see how we might apply that in the United States. I’m more concerned about the threat from inside the US and people who turn to violent extremism.

Holder praised judicial reforms in Saudi Arabia:

I’ve also been impressed by the Justice Minister’s efforts with regard to the justice system here in this great nation. We have exchanged ideas and thoughts, and my hopes would be that some of the things we’ve tried in the United States may be useful here in Saudi Arabia and some of the ideas that the Justice Minister shared with me, I think, will be productive in the United States as well.

The Attorney General said nothing about detained protesters, including women and children held earlier this month in Buraidah. Nor did he mention prominent human rights activists Mohammed al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamed, given 10-year and 11-year sentences on Saturday for forming an "illegal" organisation.

Holder did express hope that there will be an expansion of civil liberties and civil rights in "Arab Spring countries".

1617 GMT: Bahrain. An interesting political development --- a royal decree has appointed Crown Prince Salman, often framed as a "moderate" within the regime, as 1st Deputy Prime Minister --- working with his uncle, the "hard-line" Prime Minister --- "to develop the performance of the executive".

1610 GMT: Egypt. Cairo is studying an offer from the International Monetary Fund of a bridging loan, a source at the Ministry of Finance ministry has said.

The funding, known as the IMF's Rapid Financing Instrument, is temporary and would not replace Egypt's negotiations with the IMF on a $4.8 billion loan, the source said.

The source added, "Egypt continues to work towards restructuring its economy through the economic reform programme."

1140 GMT: Bahrain. Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi says human rights activist Said Yousif AlMuhafda has been acquitted of spreading false news on Twitter.

Said Yousif was detained on 17 December, after he sent messages and photographs from a protest he was observing in the capital Manama.

1040 GMT: Egypt. Qatar does not expect to give further financial aid to in the near-future, in the immediate term, Minister of Finance Youssef Kamal said today.

"We already announced $5 billion," Kamal said.

The cut-off would be a serious blow to Egypt, amid a finanial crisis with foreign reserves at a critical level and questions over the Government's ability to function. Cairo has been reliant on outside support and is hoping for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to avert further problems.

Qatar has been a key source of foreign aid to Egypt since its 2011 revolution through soft loans and deposits in Cairo's Central Bank.

In January, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani  said his country does not want to see Egypt go bankrupt: "Qatar will stand by Egypt and the Egyptian people's needs."

>As part of its assistance to Egypt's struggling economy, the oil-rich state provided Egypt with $1 billion in grants, and deposited $4 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt.