Emirate denies report, warns of more anti-Qatar sanctions

The United Arab Emirates orchestrated the hacking of a Qatari government news site in May, planting a false story that was used as a pretext for the current crisis between Qatar and several Arab countries, according to a Sunday report by The Washington Post.

The Emirati Embassy in Washington released a statement in response calling the Post report “false” and insisting that the UAE “had no role whatsoever” in the alleged hacking.

The report quotes unnamed U.S. intelligence officials as saying senior members of the Emirati government discussed the plan on May 23. On the following day, a story appeared on the Qatari News Agency’s website, quoting a speech by Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, in which he allegedly praised Iran and said Qatar has a good relationship with Israel. Similarly incendiary statements appeared on the news agency’s Twitter feed.

The agency quickly claimed it was hacked and removed the article. But Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt all blocked Qatari media and later severed diplomatic ties.

War on IS

The ongoing crisis has threatened to complicate the U.S.-led coalition’s fight against the Islamic State as all participants are U.S. allies and members of the anti-IS coalition. Qatar is home to more than 10,000 U.S. troops and the regional headquarters of the U.S. Central Command while Bahrain is the home of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

President Donald Trump has sided strongly with Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the dispute, publicly backing their contention that Doha is a supporter of Islamist militant groups and a destabilising force in West Asia. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently concluded several days of shuttle diplomacy in the Gulf, but he departed the region without any public signs of a resolution.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said on Monday that the country was not responsible for the hack. Anwar Gargash told the London-based think-tank Chatham House: “The Washington Post story today that we actually hacked the Qataris is also not true.”

Mr. Gargash said the four Arab powers were in the process of discussing additional sanctions on Doha. “There will be some tightening of the screws.”

(With Reuters inputs)