Qatar said on Monday that a U.S. media report was proof that the United Arab Emirates was involved in an alleged hack of Qatar's state news agency in late May that helped spark a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, Reuters reported.
The Washington Post, citing American officials, reported on Sunday that the United Arab Emirates orchestrated the hacking of Qatari government news and social media sites in late May in order to post incendiary false quotes attributed to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani.
It widely believed that comments published by the Qatar News Agency attributed to the Qatari emir were one of the factors that led to the current tensions between Qatar and its neighbors.
In those comments, al-Thani allegedly described Iran as an "Islamic power", criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's policy towards Tehran and claimed his country’s relations with Israel were good.
The UAE said TheWashington Post report was untrue.
"The information published in the Washington Post on 16 July 2017, which revealed the involvement of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and senior Emirati officials in the hacking of Qatar News Agency, unequivocally proves that this hacking crime took place," Qatar's government said in a statement on Monday, according to Reuters.
While Qatar had not initially named the parties responsible for the hacking of its news agency, it later accused "neighboring countries" which cut ties with it of being behind the cyberattack. It did not name any specific country.