Bahrain and Egypt on Thursday joined Saudi Arabia and the UAE in blocking access to websites run by the pan-Arab satellite network Al Jazeera, run by Qatar after an alleged hack of its state-run news agency.

Qatar quickly denied the comments in the alleged fake report attributed to the Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani , on Wednesday.

The fake article quoted Sheikh Tamim as calling Iran an "Islamic power" and saying Qatar's relations with Israel were "good" during a military ceremony.

By early Wednesday morning, internet users in Saudi Arabia and the UAE could not access websites run by Al-Jazeera, based in the Qatari capital, Doha. On Thursday morning, Bahrain and Egypt also apparently had blocked Al Jazeera websites, though authorities did not immediately acknowledge it. Egypt also blocked other websites as well, including that of Mada Masr, an online news outlet.

Al Jazeera said on Wednesday it was "studying reports that our channels and digital platforms have been blocked in certain countries in the region."

As US President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia this week, Qatar issued a statement decrying "an orchestrated barrage of opinion pieces by anti-Qatar organisations" criticising it.

Source: Khaleej Times