Minister under fire for targeting Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera has condemned comments by Sudanese authorities who claimed that the Qatari news channel is trying to bring down the Egyptian Government. In a letter to the Sudanese Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh, the Khartoum office of Al Jazeera has demanded clarification. BBC News reports that Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Bilal reportedly made the comments at a media briefing in Cairo on Thursday. Legalbrief reports that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar on 5 June. They also gave Qatari citizens 14 days to leave their territory and banned their own citizens from travelling to or residing in Qatar. Egypt also cut diplomatic ties, but did not impose restrictions on its 180 000 citizens living in Qatar.