Turkey arrests Qatar news agency hacking suspects: Qatari prosecutor

DOHA

AFP photo

Five suspected computer hackers have been arrested in Turkey in connection with an attack on the state Qatar News Agency (QNA) in April, Al Jazeera quoted Ali al-Marri, Qatar’s general prosecutor, as saying on Aug. 25.

“Our friends in Turkey answered us a short time ago. Five people were arrested and they are being investigated. Prosecutors in Qatar are working with the Turkish authorities to follow this case,” said al-Marri.

Qatari officials suggested that the QNA website was hacked and inflammatory comments attributed to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani were broadcast on news stations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, despite the Qatari government repeatedly rejecting the reports as fake. 

The alleged hack involved disparaging remarks purportedly by the emir about Donald Trump, praise for Hamas, and support for Iran as an “Islamic power”

The alleged hacking preceded the blockade imposed on Qatar by Saudi, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.