US helping Qatar probe website hacking

DOHA/WASHINGTON: US investigators are in Qatar to help Doha probe the alleged hacking of the Gulf Arab state’s news agency website, a Qatari and a US law enforcement official said, after an attack that had soured ties between Western-allied Gulf states.

Qatar said last week that hackers had posted fake remarks by the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, that purportedly had him criticizing some leaders of fellow Gulf Arab states and calling for an easing of tensions with regional foe Iran.

Gulf Arab states have rejected Qatar’s explanation, leaving local media to unleash a barrage of attacks on the young emir, accusing him of cozying up to Iran.

The row erupted days after the first visit by US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, in which he sought to galvanize fight against militancy and Iran, which Washington sees as a threat to regional stability.

A Qatari official who asked not to be identified said that experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been helping with the probe since Friday.

In Washington, a US law enforcement official confirmed that an FBI team was in Doha “working with Qatari authorities to investigate the alleged hacking incident into its state news agency.”

The officials gave no details on the number of people on the US team or progress in the investigation.