Qatar bolsters anti-terror laws with new amendments

Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani amended the country's anti-terror laws on Thursday in what appeared to be a bid to end a blockade from Gulf states on Doha and to placate the Arab quartets public criticisms.

The royal decree came just days after Qatar signed an agreement with the US that aimed at curbing the financing of terror.

It amends the set rules for defining terrorism, acts of terror and terror financing, the state's official Qatar News Agency reported.

The new changes also create two national terrorism lists and set rules for listing proscribed individuals and groups. 

Since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt blockaded Doha last month, Qatar has been working to shake off allegations that it is funding terror groups in the Middle East.

Doha has vehmently denied the claims while West allies appear to have backed Qatar, seeing the charges as politically motivated.

Its security agencies also say hackers from one of the four Arab countries boycotting Qatar posted false statements from the country's emir on a national news agency website that began the crisis.

The new amendments seem to have been received well in the UAE, where a state minister welcomed the changes as a "positive" step.

The four countries issued a 13-point list of demands to Qatar last month, but appeared to have recently moderated their tone by asking Doha to accept a broader agreement.