Bahrain minister hacked hot on heels of Qatar cyber attack

DUBAI: Hackers took over the Twitter account of the Bahraini foreign minister yesterday just 10 days after a cyber attack on the official news agency of neighbouring Qatar.

The hack, which purported to be carried out in the name of a fringe militant group, came after the Bahraini authorities dissolved the kingdom’s last major opposition movement and after police shot dead five protesters while dispersing a long-running sit-in.

Bloodied bodies, demolished mosques and what appeared to be a child’s illustration of war rolled down the official Twitter page of Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family.

The pictures were captioned: “What the petrodollar media doesn’t show you,” a reference to the satellite television channels funded by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The foreign ministry confirmed the hack, blaming it on the “terrorist party,” without elaborating.

Bahrain has been gripped by persistent unrest since 2011 when its Sunni rulers crushed protests led by its Shiite majority demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.

The authorities have jailed several opposition leaders on charges of inciting violence but human rights groups say the mainstream opposition has remained peaceful.

Saturday’s hackers tagged their posts with the name and logo of Saraya al-Mukhtar, a Shiite militant group with a strong online presence, and made threats against the ruling Al-Khalifa family. — AFP