neave barker is in brussels and we have john psaropoulos standing by for us in athens.ve, we're hearing signs of progress, little ones i guess. what is the latest, neave? >> reporter: well, when euro and greek prime ministers arrived early, i don't think anyone this would be a short day. the meeting didn't start for four hours after the scheduled start time with very little explanation given for the delay. but roughly an hour or so ago, we had signs that a possible agreement could be in the cards. a communique had been signed between greek officials and euro group members. we know very little about that document. we know, though that it is apparently an extension of the greek bailout. some information is slowly emerging. particularly on greek state television. i'm sure john can tell us more about that from athens. the suggestion is that this is a step in the right direction, but it could also be little more than an interim deal that goes on for another round of discussions before potentially being ratified by euro zone members. >> neave barker following all of the devel

we're going to cross over to john psaropoulos. erman government got some concessions, but there are many who are still unhappy with this deal. >> that's right. because the greek government went back on a stipulation that it would not accept an extension of the current bailout agreement. it caved in on that particular issue. in that makes the left wing within the ruling party very unhappy. and at least one minister the energy and environment minister has declared that he for one is not going to abide by the terms of the bailout, and will not be privatizing any of the private concerns including the gas and power corporation, two key parts of the economy here because they are a major chunk of the energy industry which affect all construction industry. the communist party is also unhappy. it may only be 5.5% of the vote of the moment but they are seating themselves as the anti-austerity alternative. like caesar did long ago. so the communists are clearly heading for a long-term strategy here of taking over the left wing if they can, an

and john psaropoulos is live for us in athens. first let's go to neave in brussels.t is the likely of the proposal being approved? >> reporter: well, it's a critical day for greece and the euro group as a whole, although the deadline for the renewal of the bailout isn't until the 28th. that's next week. ideally an agreement does need to be made to allow european parliaments to essentially ratify it so we really are down to the wire at the moment. on thursday the greeks submitted something of a copromiez proposal. they have called for a six-month loan extension that would allow them some time to come up with a longer-term -- longer-fixed solution to their financial crisis. at the same time it would also allow them to pay off some of their most immediate creditor notably the imf and european central bank. the response in europe has been somewhat mixed. the germans said it wasn't good enough. some other german officials describing it rather as a trojan horse, a sign perhaps of the level of mistrust that exists at the moment between the two. but in paris, the german chan

john psaropoulos filed this report. >> reporter: there is a stalemate at the moment.he greeks have said they have submitted they request to the euro group for an extension of the loan agreement. they have said that the euro group meeting tomorrow has only two choices to accept or reject the greek request. now we will discover who wants the solution and who doesn't. this in response to a german statement earlier in the day, that the greek request was inadequately phrased. it is not a proposal that leads to a substantial solution. what was the greek request? they have asked for a six-month bridge period a truce if you will which its creditors would finance. that means they would meet greece's debt schedule the repayment that is owed to the central bank monetary fund and other european countries, and they would allow greece that days by period in which to renegotiate several things. however, the germans have rejected that and, the greeks are saying let's see what happens in the euro group. in an effort ef identifily to see whether they can isolate the germans who have be

. >> and john psaropoulos reports from athens. >> the left fringe of the ruling party is unhappy with bailout agreement that has been reached. it had been an absolute position on the part ofsysiry sa that they wanted a extension of the loan but a suspension of the austerity reforms. they didn't get that. so within the ruling party now, there are ministers who are saying that they will not abide by these terms notably the energy and environment minister who says that in his portfolio, there will be no privatizations as stipulated in those austerity terms. the communist party of greece is also unlapy they pulled 5.5% of the vote in the last collection and is positioning its as the anti-austerity party the way syriza did a few years ago. the communist have floated their trajectory and they want to play a long game here. they have decided their strategic goal would be to eat away at the left wing and try to get not only its votes on the street, but also possibly some of its mp's in parliament. >>> lots more still to come here on al jazeera. it has been a battle ground for two years, now d

. >>> john psaropoulos reports now from athens. >> the left fringe of the ruling party is unhappy with bailout agreement that has been reached in the last couple of weeks. it had been an absolute position on the part that it would not accept an extension of the austerity terms that accompany the loan. they wanted an extension of the loan for a few more months. but they didn't get that, they were forced to cave in at the third euro meeting held over this issue, so within the ruling party now, there are ministers who are saying that they will not abide by these terms. notably the energy and environment minister who says that in his portfolio, there will be no privatization as stipulated in those austerity terms. also unhappy are other left-wing parties. the communist party is consciously positioning it's a as the anti-austerity alternative in greek politics. the way caesar did several years ago when it was a similarly small party and didn't seem much of a threat but here it is today in power. the communists have noted that trajectory, and they want to play a long game here. they have dec

john psaropoulos has the latest. >> reporter: the greek prime minister issued a statement saying thatreece had done everything possible in order to present a proposal to european counterparts that will be acceptable, and he said he felt that therefore it will be accepted. the concessions the greeks have made are substantial. the letter that finance minister on thursday sent to the euro group chairman says that greece will work within the flexibility provided by the existing program. a key phrase that the german proposal had included on monday. in that is now being borrowed and used in the greek proposal. the greeks are also promising to drive towards a completion of the current program. another key german demand. and the greeks are reiterating that they do plan to repay all of these loans in full but they do want to renegotiate the period of time over which that will happen. the greek side is hoping that by offering all of these concessions which are legal and political, and also by promising to allow monitoring inspections of the economy over the next six months, something that the r

john psaropoulos has more now from athens. >> reporter: the euro group have given the nod to this listy do specify that it has got to be deepened and broadened. in other words it has to be made more specific. how these goals are going to be achieved. and then of course the final approval to this list of things will be given at the end of april, and greece does nths graduate from this governing agenda until the end of june. the way the euro group phrased it is the institutions consider this list of measures to be sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point. so from the european point of view we're still trying to conclude the current program as it were which is what this government was trying to avoid. here, however, the government has seen it differently. they said yes, we compromised on that but added a whole lot of flexibility and measures we wanted into this review. people want smaller government less expensive go social security that is solvent, a tax collection authority that is transparent and effective, but also fair, all of these sings he has promised to do. but we

. >> john psaropoulos joins us live from athens. john what has happened there?hat has been the reaction in greece? >> reporter: well we have just seen the first anti-government protest since the election a month ago. up until now, all of those protests have been organized by the ruling party in favor of the government to give it a moral boost as it tries to argue for the agreement that carried austerity terms which has been in force for the last four years. now we are seeing the communist party emerging from the left and trying to lure away votes not only in parliament but one is already taking a stand at some distance saying he will not put up the state companies in his portfolio up for privatization. so there is going to be some effect on the part of the communist party. >> john thank you. >>> now a court in hong kong has sentenced a woman to six years in prison for abusing her indonesian maid. the victim has welcomed the judgment but insists more reforms are necessary. a former 'em mroir was convicted of 18 charges ranging to assault to not paying her wages.