UAE denies hacking Qatar news portal

The United Arab Emirates was not responsible for an alleged hack of Qatari websites which helped spark a month-long diplomatic rift with Doha, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs said today.

Speaking at a forum in London, Anwar Gargash also said the UAE would not escalate its boycott by asking companies to choose between doing business with it or with Qatar.

The Qatar News Agency (QNA) website was hacked in May and remarks purportedly by its ruler criticising aspects of US foreign policy in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia were uploaded.

Read: UAE says headed for ‘long estrangement’ with Qatar

The move sparked the current crisis that has led to the isolation of Qatar by several of its neighbours.

US intelligence agencies yesterday have confirmed that the United Arab Emirates orchestrated the hacking of Qatari government news and social media sites according to the Washington Post.