- A group of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia has broken off relations with Qatar over the regime’s support for Iran
- Trump wrote that during his Middle East trip ‘I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!’
- But the Qatari government says the source of the claim is a fake news article placed on its state media site
- That article was placed there by Russian hackers, US government officials have claimed after an FBI team was sent to investigate
- US officials believe that Russia wants to drive a wedge between the US and its allies
- America has an air base near Doha that accommodates nearly 11,000 forces – making it one of the largest US bases in the region
The Qatari government says recent troubles with its Gulf neighbors – who have broken off relations over alleged Iran ties and connections with terror groups – were spurred by a fake news report planted by Russia.
On May 23 hackers planted a news report on its Qatar News Agency that attributed fake quotes to the country’s leader that appeared sympathetic to Iran and Israel, both Qatar and US officials claim.
The ‘fake report’ also questioned whether Donald Trump was cut out for the presidency. The hack is believed by FBI to have originated in Russia, US officials told CNN.
That raises questions over recent tweets by president Trump, who boasted Tuesday that his meeting with Middle East heads in Saudi Arabia had led to the diplomatic breaks.
He said that ‘all reference was pointing to Qatar’ as a source of funding for ‘extremism’.
The president weighed in on Twitter amid the diplomatic standoff, after the Saudi-led bloc of Arab nations cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar.
‘During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!’ he wrote in a pair of tweets, referencing his trip to Riyadh on his first international trip as president.
‘So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar.
‘Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!’ he concluded.
US officials said that a team of investigators was sent to Doha, the Qatari capital, to look into the placement of the controversial report.
They believe that Russia hacked the country – which houses one of the US’s largest military bases in the region, with 11,000 personnel – in an attempt to cause rifts between the US and its allies.
The diplomatic move Monday threw Qatar into crisis.
As well as being a US ally, the tiny nation has strong relations with Iran, which backs Hezbollah and other terror groups.
It backs rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar-al Assad, it has backed the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and it pumps funding into Al Jazeera, which has angered neighboring regimes at times.
‘We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences,’ Rex Tillerson said Monday, the New York Times reported.