Leading UAE newspaper's website hacked

Iranian activists on Tuesday evening hacked the website of a leading UAE-based Arabic language newspaper in a protest over the name of the waterway between the Islamic republic and the GCC.

The group, called the 'Mafia Hacking Team’, posted a map with the message "The correct name is Persian Gulf" written across the top on the homepage of Al Khaleej, the newspaper said.

A second picture was also posted on the site, which included the name of the hacker and his email address.

The incident comes just weeks after dozens of Iranians rallied outside the UAE embassy in Tehran to demand the waterway be called the Persian, and not the Arabian, Gulf.

The name of the key oil shipping route is a bone of contention between Shi'ite Muslim Iran and its predominantly Sunni Arab neighbours.

Iran and the UAE are also embroiled in a territorial dispute over the sovereignty of three islands in the waterway.

Iran insists on calling the water along its southern coast the Persian Gulf. The body of water also touches Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, and many people in these states refer to the waters as the Arabian Gulf.

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