Doha - Al Jazeera news network said on Wednesday a number of its websites had been hacked, and Internet users reported that pro-Syrian regime slogans were posted on the broadcaster's pages.
The main Arab satellite news channel said the host company of its websites came under a cyber attack which “caused readers wanting to access Al Jazeera websites to be diverted to other pages not linked to us.”
“The company is working on fixing the problem and has succeeded in restoring Al Jazeera websites gradually, but completing the job will take some time,” a spokesman for the channel said in a statement.
Internet reports said that the websites of the Qatar-owned network appeared with a Syrian flag along with the word “Hack” and a message saying the piracy was in “response to the hostile position of the channel towards Syria, its people and government.”
The message also cited Al Jazeera's “spread of false news.”
Al Jazeera has openly backed most Arab Spring uprisings and is strongly criticised by the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, which accuses it of pro-rebel bias. - Sapa-AFP