Baghdad

The Media Office at the UAE Embassy in Baghdad issued a strong statement against a report published on Wednesday in Lebanon’s Al Akhbar newspaper under the headline: “The super ambassador ... walking in Al Sabhan’s footsteps”. The paper is seen as being close to the Hezbollah militant group.

The statement said the article was full of fabrications and misleading information, in line with objectives and intentions of those who finance the paper. It said their support and promotion of terrorism and extremism had been exposed and documented on their own media platforms.

The statement noted, “Such publications will not dissuade us from continuing our diplomatic role ...[as they try to] serve interests of parties whose loyalty and ends are well known.” It added: “Publishing fake news under the so-called ‘Emirates leaks dossier’ ... is part of Qatari strategy of exploiting the Lebanese arena to serve Doha’s targets in a country with an open media.”

The embassy re-emphasised that Qatar’s attempts to undermine the UAE — using its media tools, including Al Akhbar newspaper — points to its crisis-ridden policy, after it was proved that Doha supports extremism and takfirism and harbours terrorist groups.