24 May 2017

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have blocked access to number of Qatari news websites, including state-owed network Al Jazeera, after hackers posted fake stories containing remarks falsely attributed to the Gulf Arab’s state’s ruler, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Qatari government communications office in the early hours of Wednesday said that the state news agency had been hacked and fake news were posted claiming the country’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, had criticised aspects of U.S. foreign policy and other Gulf states for renewing tensions with Iran during a military graduation ceremony.

"An ongoing investigation will be put in place to look into this matter. The statement published has no basis whatsoever, and the competent authorities in the State of Qatar will hold all those (involved) accountable," the Gulf Arab state's government communications office said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday.

In Saudi Arabia, authorities have started blocking a number of Qatari websites, including Al Jazeera.net, the Qatar News Agency, Al Watan newspaper, Al Raya, Al Sharq, Al Arab among others, according to a report by Arabic newspaper Al Madina.

When users try to access the Aljazeera.net website in Saudi Arabia they receive an error message saying “Sorry, the requested page is violating the regulations of Ministry of Culture and Information”.

In the UAE trying to access the same website displays a display saying “this website is not accessible in the UAE”, according to the Al Arabiya news portal.

© Zawya 2017