Russian hackers 'planted fake news in Qatar to fuel current Gulf crisis, US believes'

The FBI and Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) have deployed officials to work with Qatar to investigate the apparent Russian hack, CNN reported on Tuesday night.

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تاریخ: ۱۷ خرداد ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۹:۴۹

The Qatari government claims a story from May 23 attributed false remarks to the nation's ruler, in which he made friendly comments towards Iran and questioned how long Mr Trump would remain in office.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab powers severed ties with Qatar earlier this week in protest at what they said was the Gulf nation's support for terrorism.

Mr Trump claimed credit earlier yesterday for the surprise diplomatic isolation of Qatar, praising Middle East countries' actions against Qatar over Islamist militants even though the tiny Gulf state is a key American ally and hosts the largest US air base in the region.

The US president wrote on Twitter that his recent trip to the Middle East was "already paying off" and that "perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!"

He had not responded on Tuesday night to the alleged Russian role in the crisis.

US officials reportedly said they believed the motives of the Russian hackers were to create tension between the US and its allies in the region.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, told CNN: "Whatever has been thrown as an accusation is all based on misinformation and we think that the entire crisis [is] based on misinformation.

"Because it was started based on fabricated news, being wedged and being inserted in our national news agency which was hacked and proved by the FBI."

Sheikh Saif Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, director of the government communications Office said the country was working with the FBI and Britain's NCA.

There was no official comment from either the FBI or the NCA about the claims of the Russian hack. Moscow had not responded to the reports on Tuesday night.

Saudi Arabia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar was a coordinated move with Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

They accused the tiny Gulf state of harbouring extremist groups and suggested Qatari support for the agenda of Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival Iran.

The US was not informed of the decision until just before it was announced, the State Department has said.

Around 8,000 US military personnel are stationed at al Udeid in Qatar, which is used as a staging ground for US-led strikes on the Islamic State terror group in Syria and Iraq.

It is the latest claim of Russian hacking having major global consequences. A US intelligence report in January concluded Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, personally ordered an "influence campaign" to favour Mr Trump over his rival, Hillary Clinton.

The Russian security services were blamed for hacking and leaking Democratic National Committee emails during the US presidential election campaign.

It has also been claimed Russian hackers tried to influence elections in France and Germany through the planting of fake news stories.

Mr Putin has suggested that "patriotic hackers" may have meddled in the US election but has denied any government involvement.