UAE orchestrated cyber attack on Qatari news and social media sites, claims US intelligence

UAE denies claims of cyber attack, which was used in justification for regional diplomatic ostracism of Qatar

A cyber attack on news and social media web sites in Qatar at the end of May, in which false quotes were attributed to Qatar's emir Sheik Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, sparking a regional diplomatic conflagration, was orchestrated by neighbouring United Arab Emirates, according to US intelligence.

The cyber attack took place on 24 May and included false reports that the emir had described Iran as an "Islamic power", and had praised Islamist fundamentalist terror group Hamas.

Qatar's neighbours, led by UAE and Saudi Arabia, but also including Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Senegal and Mauritania, used the reports as a casus belli to ostracise Qatar diplomatically in a bid to force it to close the al Jazeera television news network amid claims that the emirate was a regional supporter of terrorist organisations.

In addition to cutting diplomatic ties, the countries also banned all Qatari media and instituted a transport and trade boycott in a bid to force the emirate comply with a series of political demands.

But according to US intelligence agencies, in a report leaked to the Washington Post, the hack was planned by UAE government officials, although it is unclear whether UAE government agencies carried out the cyber attacks or contracted a third-party to do it for them to keep it at arms length.

The UAE government has responded by describing the Washington Post article as 'false'.

"The UAE had no role whatsoever in the alleged hacking described in the article," said the UAE's ambassador to the US in a statement. It continued: "What is true is Qatar's behaviour. Funding, supporting, and enabling extremists from the Taliban to Hamas and Qadafi [the former Libyan leader]. Inciting violence, encouraging radicalisation, and undermining the stability of its neighbours."

Anwar Gargash, the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, also claimed the story was false. "The Washington Post story today that we actually hacked the Qataris is also not true," he told the London-based think-tank Chatham House.

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