Qatar’s state-run news agency has been targeted by hackers who used their access to publishing platforms to distribute controversial statements falsely attributed to the Gulf state’s monarch.
The fake report published late on Tuesday quoted Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani commenting on a number of sensitive regional issues, including relations with other Middle Eastern countries and new US President Donald Trump.
Mr al-Thani was quoted as saying “there is no wisdom in harbouring hostility towards Iran” and that relations with the Trump administration are “tense” despite a positive meeting between the two leaders in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabia capital, last week.
Qatar’s ties to Israel were “good”, the false story also quoted the sovereign as saying, and he hoped to help broker a peace deal in the Arab-Israeli conflict. At the same time, the story attributed positive statements about Gaza-based extremist organisation Hamas to the ruler, which it called the “official representative of Palestinians.”
The remarks were supposedly made during a speech the Emir gave at a military academy graduation ceremony earlier on Tuesday.
The unknown hackers also briefly gained control the agency’s Twitter account, posting three messages attributed to the foreign minister ordering the removal of other Gulf nations’ ambassadors to the country within 24 hours - claims later dismissed by the authorities.
The comments were picked up by several other news outlets and broadcasters in the Arab world, and were met with a storm of criticism in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in particular.
A statement from Doha issued on Wednesday said that the Qatar News Agency website was hacked by an “unknown entity” and that “A false statement attributed to His Highness has been published.” An investigation into the incident was underway, and those responsible would be held accountable, the Government Communications Office continued.
The incident is not the first time Qatari organisations have been targeted by cybercriminals, Doha News reports.
An attack on the Qatar National Bank in 2016 leaked more than 1,200 customers’ details into the public domain, and several ‘domain name poisoning’ hacks on official websites in recent years have redirected traffic or illegally collected user data.
