Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Kuwait has become the latest Gulf Cooperation Council
member to release a multi-billion-dollar aid package for Egypt.

Officials said Emir Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah has ordered the Kuwaiti
government to draft an aid package for Egypt. They said the emir set the
value of the assistance, meant to include cash and oil, at $4 billion.

“The emergency aid consists of a $2 billion deposit in Egypt’s Central Bank, a $1 billion grant and $1 billion worth of oil and derivatives,” Kuwaiti State Minister Mohammed Abdullah Al Mubarak said.

In remarks to Kuwait’s official news agency Kuna on July 10, Mohammed said the Cabinet has approved the aid package for Egypt. The minister said the assistance would help stabilize Egypt in wake of the ouster of the
Muslim Brotherhood regime a week earlier.

“The provision of such aid comes in solidarity of the people of Kuwait with the Egyptian people in the face of the critical situation and suffering,” Mohammed said.

The announcement made Kuwait the third GCC state to report an aid
package for Egypt. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have announced
aid packages worth a combined $8 billion.

All of the GCC packages included both cash and fuel. Officials said
Egypt has appealed to Arab allies for immediate fuel shipments to ease a
massive shortage that could paralyze public transportation as well as
electricity generation.

Qatar, a leading supporter of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, has not
announced aid to Egypt. On July 9, U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned
Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani to urge Doha’s participation in the
GCC effort.

  Emir Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Gulf Cooperation Council, Kuwait chips in with $4 billion aid package for Egypt, Mohammed Abdullah Al Mubarak