US 'accuses' Russian hackers of causing Qatar crisis

US investigators believe Russian hackers breached Qatar's state news agency and planted a fake news story that helped fuel a crisis between US allies in the Gulf.

The above information was just posted by CNN, citing US officials briefed on the investigation.

Qatar's stock market is all red due to the impact of the diplomatic crisis. Photo: Reuters

According to US and Qatari officials, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sent an investigation team to Doha to help the government clarify the incident believed to be caused by hackers.

The US said intelligence gathered by its security agencies showed that Russian hackers were behind the intrusion that the Qatari government announced two weeks ago. Qatar is host to one of the largest US military bases in the region.

The possible role of Russian hackers is adding to concerns among U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies that Russia is continuing to use some of the same cyberattacks against Washington's allies that intelligence agencies believe were used during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

US officials said the aim appeared to be to sow division within the US and its allies.

The FBI and the CIA declined to comment on the development. A spokesman for the Qatari embassy in Washington said the investigation was ongoing and the results would be released soon.

The Qatari government has said a May 23 report by the Qatar News Agency made an inaccurate comment about the country's government, saying it appeared to be friendly with Iran and Israel, and questioning whether President Donald Trump would survive his term.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told CNN that the FBI confirmed there was a cyber intrusion and fake news.

Sheikh Saif Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, Director of the Government Information Office of Qatar, confirmed that the Qatari Ministry of Interior is cooperating with the FBI and the UK's National Crime Agency in the investigation of the hacking of the Qatar News Agency.

"The Interior Ministry will announce the results of the investigation as soon as it is completed," he told CNN.

Qatar is currently suffering from the biggest diplomatic crisis in years. Six Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, announced that they were cutting diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing it of promoting terrorism and seriously affecting the regional situation.

Doha described the actions of the above countries as completely unreasonable, based on baseless information.

According to Vietnamnet