Qatar's Al Jazeera battling major cyber attack

Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera said on Thursday that it was under a widescale cyber attack that had targeted "all systems", according to a statement released on social media by the broadcaster.

"Al Jazeera Media Network under cyber attack on all systems, websites & social media platforms," it said on Twitter.

The attack was also confirmed by a source at Al Jazeera, who said the broadcaster was attempting to repel the hack.

"An attempt has been made, and we are trying to battle it," said the source.

Following the initial reports of a cyber attack, some viewers in the region said they could no longer receive Al Jazeera television.

Al Jazeera, one of the largest news organisations in the world, has long been a source of conflict between Qatar and its neighbours, who accuse the broadcaster of bias and fomenting trouble in the region.

Al Jazeera's acting director general, Mostefa Souag, dismissed accusations that its reportage is pro-Islamist or that it amounts to meddling in the affairs of other Arab states. "We don't interfere in anybody’s business, we just report," he told Reuters at Al Jazeera's Doha headquarters.

The alleged cyber attack comes during a time of heightened tensions in the Gulf, which has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and other allies cut ties with Qatar.

They severed relations over what they claim is Doha's financing of extremist groups and its ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival.

Long-running tensions broke out into the open last month after Qatar claimed its state news site was hacked by unknown parties who posted "false" statements attributed to the emir, in which he speaks favourably of Iran and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

The remarks were widely reported as true across the region.

Earlier this month, Qatar said the FBI was helping it investigate the source of the alleged hacking.

Subsequently there were media reports suggesting that Qatar had been targeted by Russian hackers - a claim dismissed by Moscow.