|
Trending Topics
|
U.S. Says UAE Orchestrated Hacking of Qatari Government Sites
(Washington Post) Karen DeYoung and Ellen Nakashima - U.S. intelligence officials say that on May 23, senior members of the UAE government discussed the implementation of a plan to hack Qatari government news and social media sites in order to post incendiary false quotes attributed to Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani. The false reports said that the emir had called Iran an "Islamic power" and praised Hamas. Citing the emir's reported comments, the Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt immediately banned all Qatari media, broke relations with Qatar, and declared a trade and diplomatic boycott. UAE ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba said, "The UAE had no role whatsoever in the alleged hacking." More than 10,000 U.S. troops are based at Qatar's al-Udeid Air Base, the U.S. Central Command's regional headquarters. Asked about the U.S. military base in Qatar, President Trump said, "If we ever have to leave" the base, "we would have 10 countries willing to build us another one, believe me. And they'll pay for it."