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Qatar to prosecute UAE officials over news agency hacking

July 18, 2017 at 9:40 am

QNA, Qatar News Agency headquarters [Twitter]

Following media reports that the UAE was behind the hacking of the state news agency QNA in May, the government of Qatar pledged on Monday to take legal measures to prosecute those responsible, Thenewkhaliji.org has reported.

#FakeNews

A report in the Washington Post revealed that US intelligence officials have pointed the finger of blame at senior UAE officials who, it is alleged, discussed the hacking on 23 May, a day before it actually occurred. However, the newspaper said that it was not clear whether the officials carried out the hacking themselves or if they commissioned a third party to do it.

Read: UAE denies hacking Qatar news portal

The director of the state information office in Qatar, Saif Bin Ahmed Bin Said Al-Thani, reiterated that Doha believes that the hacking was an international electronic crime and a flagrant violation of international law, as well as a breach of bilateral and collective agreements covering member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations. While pointing out that investigations are ongoing, the government of Qatar expressed its sorrow that UAE officials were apparently involved in this crime.