(Newswire.net — June 8, 2017) — Saudi Arabia, followed by Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf countries have cut off ties with Qatar after it’s state news agency ran a story that carried critical remarks of Saudi Arabia.
Following Qatar’s claims that hackers breached the state news agency and planted a false news story, the FBI has sent over a team only to determine that a hack attack comes from Russia, according to CNN. But it’s not that simple.
The Arab League countries have severed political and economic ties with Qatar for more reasons than just an allegedly fabricated news story. Also, CNN didn’t provide any evidence other than a statement from an unnamed FBI source.
So, what’s the rush to blame it all again on the Russians?
It is no secret that US President Donald Trump is trying to ease the tension between the Kremlin and Washington and improve bilateral ties, currently at the lowest level since the Cold War.
President Trump has instructed US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to try to restore the relations with Russia, but before he could even start, CNN has dropped a bombshell by claiming that Russian hackers are behind the fabricated report published by Qatar’s state news agency, which has fueled the ongoing crisis in the Gulf.
According to CNN’s unnamed source from the FBI, the hack attack came from Russia. It was determined by the FBI team sent to Doha to investigate into alleged security breach. CNN’s report implies that the attack was executed by the same group from Russia that allegedly interfered into the 2016 US presidential election.
While the FBI and CIA have declined to comment and Qatari officials describe it as an ongoing investigation, CNN still suspects the Russians.
It is not clear though whether the hackers belong to a criminal group or are sponsored by the Kremlin, CNN remarks, but in the very next sentence it offers a quote by “one official,” saying that “not much happens in that country [Russia] without the blessing of the government.”
The current rift in the Gulf, however, may be fueled by the allegedly fake news, but it has been cooking for a long time. Qatar has been accused of directly supporting terrorist groups such as Muslim brothers, Al Qaida and ISIS.
The allegations also include smuggling military equipment and weapons to ISIS. Something similar could be said for Saudi Arabia as the investigation into the 9/11 attack established that 15 of the 19 airplane hijackers were Saudi nationals.
The backlash against Qatar started only 10 days after the US president’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the signing of a multibillion-dollar deal to sell arms to the Gulf country. One of the largest US military bases in the Middle East remains in Qatar.
According to the Independent, the latest batch of leaked emails to and from Hillary Clinton discloses that Barack Obama’s administration knew that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar were among the largest contributors to ISIS.