This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/17/uae-denies-arranging-hack-of-qatar-news-agency

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
UAE denies arranging hack of Qatar news agency Qatar alleges Gulf rivals broke international law by hacking its websites
(about 4 hours later)
The United Arab Emirates has denied reports it was responsible for an alleged hack of Qatari websites that helped spark a month-long diplomatic rift with Doha. Qatar has accused its Gulf neighbours of breaking international law by hacking government websites and planting false information that helped cause a continuing diplomatic rift in the region.
According to the Washington Post, US officials discovered last week that UAE ministers held a meeting on 23 May to discuss plans to hack Qatari government news and social media sites and post incendiary false quotes attributed to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. According to the Washington Post, US officials discovered last week that ministers from the United Arab Emirates held a meeting on 23 May to discuss plans to hack Qatari government news and social media sites and post incendiary false quotes attributed to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani.
The hack, which took place the following day, preceded the current split in the Gulf between Qatar and a coalition of four states that are mounting an economic and diplomatic boycott against it. The alleged hack, which involved disparaging remarks purportedly by the emir about Donald Trump, praise for Hamas and support for Iran as an “Islamic power”, took place the following day. It preceded the current split in the Gulf between Qatar and a coalition of four states – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain – that are maintaining an economic and diplomatic boycott against it.
The four states – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain – imposed sanctions on Qatar on 5 June, cutting diplomatic and transport ties with the tiny Gulf monarchy, after accusing it of financing militant groups and allying with their regional arch-foe Iran. Doha denies the accusations. The group imposed sanctions on Qatar on 5 June, cutting diplomatic and transport ties with the tiny Gulf monarchy after accusing it of financing militant groups and allying with their regional foe Iran. Doha denies the accusations and says al-Thani never made the remarks.
Speaking at the Chatham House forum in London on Monday, the UAE foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, twice denied the veracity of the claims. He said: “The Washington Post story is not true. It is purely wrong. You will see in the next few days the story will die.” He denied the hack could have precipitated the crisis, saying “this issue has been festering since 2014”. The Qatar information office said: “The information published in the Washington Post ... revealed the involvement of the United Arab Emirates and senior Emirati officials in the hacking of Qatar News Agency.
Among the false social media posts published during the hack were some made in the name of the emir of Qatar, in which he appeared to make disparaging remarks about Donald Trump, praised Gaza’s Hamas leaders and expressed support for Iran as an “Islamic power”. The bogus remarks were reported by Saudi-supporting media. A few days later the four states launched their blockade of Qatar. “[The report] unequivocally proves that this hacking crime took place.”
The Washington Post gave no further details of how American intelligence had reached its conclusion, but it has previously been alleged that some of the boycotting states could be behind a hack of the official Qatar news agency. Qatar has previously asked US and British officials to investigate the source of the hack. Qatar had asked the FBI to investigate the source of the alleged hack, but no official US confirmation emerged on Monday that it believes Qatar’s rivals were responsible.
Gargash said the UAE would not escalate its boycott by asking companies to choose between doing business with it or Qatar. The UAE foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, in the UK to deliver a lecture on the causes of the Gulf crisis at Chatham House, said on Monday: “The Washington Post story is not true. It is purely wrong. You will see in the next few days the story will die.”
But he gave no impression that the UAE was willing to abandon the blockade. Instead, he said the quartet intended to put the issue on the back burner to focus on trying to resolve the crises in Libya and Yemen. Gargash denied that the alleged hack could have precipitated the crisis, saying “this issue has been festering since 2014”. Asked if he believed that the Qatari emir had expressed the views in question, he said: “If you look at the comments they are very consistent with what they have said.”
“As the Qataris realise this is a crisis that will drag on, we will see them become a bit more realistic,” he said. It is possible that the US intelligence finding has been leaked by government officials frustrated that the UAE has not shown a greater willingness to compromise.
He again suggested the structure of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the six-member defence and trading bloc, is not sustainable and denied reports that the UAE had threatened Fifa over continuing to allow Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. Gargash implied that the Gulf Cooperation Council may collapse, rather than see other member states throw Qatar out. “The GCC is in crisis and I don’t think it serves our purposes to say ‘let’s take Qatar out’,” he said.
“What we really do want is we either reach an agreement and Qatar’s behaviour changes, or Qatar makes its own bed and they can move on and we can move with a new relationship. But we cannot have a member who is undermining us and supporting extremism.
“You cannot be part of a regional organisation dedicated to strengthening mutual security and furthering mutual interest, and at the same time undermine that security. You cannot be both our friend and a friend of al-Qaida.”
Predicting a possible stalemate in the dispute, Gargash nevertheless claimed that Qatar’s private promise to western powers to review a list of 59 extremists the UAE claims are in Doha is a direct result of the blockade. The UAE wants the individuals arrested or expelled, along with 12 named organisations.
Qatar’s decision last week to sign a memorandum of understanding on terrorist financing with the US was also hailed as “a positive development” by the foreign minister.
Claiming that it has been warning of an extremist threat since the 1980s, Gargash described Qatar as a “very wealthy state, with $300bn (£230bn) in reserves, which is wedded to extremist jihadism and terrorism”.
The tone of his speech is likely to disappoint the succession of western foreign ministers who have travelled to the Gulf to mediate. They have warned that the confrontation is threatening long-term stability and investors may pull out if it is not settled quickly.
“Understandably many of our friends in Europe and beyond are concerned about this crisis,” Gargash said. “They see the Arab Gulf as a haven of stability in an unstable Middle East, and as an important and functioning common market.
“Many would argue that it is one of the few Arab bulwarks against further Iranian expansion. We understand and respect those concerns.
“But as we know from meetings with American and European officials, they are also aware of Qatar’s duplicity.”