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PM complains of Arab, international aid shortfalls At Thursday presser, El-Ganzouri says post-revolution international aid pledges - by G8, Arabs and US - have failed to materialise
Egypt has not received any of the financial assistance pledged by the G8 group of nations at their last meeting, Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri stated at a press conference on Thursday convened at Egypt's General Authority for Investment. "We've also only received $1 billion from the Arab countries,” he added, despite the fact that a handful of oil-rich Arab states had earlier pledged $10 billion in aid to Egypt in the wake of the January revolution. Neither had Egypt received the$2.25 billion in post-revolution financial assistance promised by the US government. El-Ganzouri went on to tell journalists that a total of some $9 billion had flowed out of Egypt within recent months, but declined to elaborate further. "We reject the notion of devaluing the Egyptian pound" he said. In response to one journalist's question, the prime minister explained that Arab and international aid had failed to materialise because donor nations had been discouraged by the division and conflict seen recently among Egyptian political groups. El-Ganzouri also weighed in on the current security crisis that began as an open-ended sit-in outside the Cabinet building in downtown Cairo to protest his appointment to the premiership last month. Subsequent clashes, which began on 25 November, have so far left at least 15 dead. Addressing the latest violence against Egyptian protesters, especially against women, El-Ganzouri expressed regret. “I refuse all forms of violence, no matter what the cause,” he said, noting that he was “closely following” the ongoing friction between anti-government protesters and security forces. “Every hour I receive a call from the interior minister to discuss how to deal with these outlaws all over Egypt,” he said. The PM went on to note that Egypt was currently facing a “very unstable” period, expressing hope that Egypt's various political factions would unite to discuss ways of re-establishing domestic stability and security. “We need calm, if only for two months,” he said. El-Ganzouri added that his Cabinet was prepared to step down “today,” but stressed that the focus should remain on how best to help Egypt overcome the current political crisis. Speaking about the “martyrs of the revolution,” El-Ganzouri said he – as an Egyptian citizen – had wished the sentences handed down to their killers had been harsher, but pointed out that he did not have the authority to discuss or interfere in judicial issues. The prime minister went on to say that the four concrete walls erected around Cairo's Tahrir Square – in and around which clashes have recently taken place – had been set up to prevent further friction between protesters and security forces. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/29949.aspx
