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Dubai: The website of Al Arabiya news channel was hacked on Friday by Shiite groups in an apparent tit-for-tat response to recent attacks on Shiite websites by Sunni hackers.
The website's main page was replaced by a political message and a warning.
"SERIOUS WARNING: If attacks on Shia websites continue, none of your WebSites will be SAFE," read the statement in Arabic and English under a burning Israeli flag.
The hacking attacks are said to have increased after a strongly-worded Ram-adan statement by prominent Sunni cleric Yousuf Al Qaradawi, warning Shiites not to proselytise in Sunni-majority countries.
Meanwhile, Gulf News has learned that Mohammad Al Mulla, Director of Dubai Media City, had sent a letter to Abdul Rahman Bin Rashid, head of the Al Arabiya channel, in June this year advising that the channel should take a neutral stand on political issues and sectarian friction.
It has reportedly told the channel that the phrases and words it is using are seen as instigating sectarian strife between Arabs.
The letter said that it may be reflected negatively on Dubai's media policy and its balanced relationship with the Arab and Islamic world.
The BBC reported during Ramadan that more than 300 Shiite websites were hacked by Sunni hacker groups, including that of Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Iraq. One of the groups responsible, reported the BBC, was a UAE based group called 'XP'.
Allegation
The Al Arabiya hacker told Gulf News in an e-mail that Al Arabiya was a 'Wahabi channel' that wanted to start a war with the Shia, using the term often used to refer to Salafist or puritianical Sunni Muslims.
Although the hacker did not say where he or she was from, the writing indicated a Persian style.
The news channel has recently had a troubled relationship with Iran. Upon revealing plans to air an Egyptian film titled Imam of Blood, referring to the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini, Al Arabiya's bureau chief in Iran was expelled by the authorities.
Al Arabiya condemned the attack as 'radical' and called it an attack on freedom of expression and a violation of the rights of journalists.
According to a statement issued by Al Arabiya, the hackers redirected the domain name alarabiya.net to a site hosting the message that was displayed.
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