TV presenter Mohamed Al-Baaz, known for attacking the Turkish and Qatari regimes, during his program \u201c90 Minutes\u201d reported an alleged severe decline in the funding of Qatari state-funded broadcaster Al-Jazeera, citing unknown sources as saying.<\/p>\n
A decline in the funding of the Doha-based Al-Jazeera, which Egypt has accused of promoting terrorism and hostile approaches against the Egyptian state, forced the channel to lay off 600 employees, most of which are Egyptians, Baaz said, adding that the laid-off employees will leave the channel before June.<\/p>\n
The funding provided for Al-Jazeera totals $5 billion, including $2 billion from the state\u2019s treasury, Baaz said. Egypt Today, however, could not verify the data about the total fund received by the channel. According to Baaz, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad decided to stop the $2 billion fund from the treasury for political reasons.<\/p>\n