Syria Information Ministry Email Hacked

Syria Information Ministry Email Hacked

Syria's ministry of information on Monday denied the sacking of the country's ambassador to Lebanon and said a previous email announcement was a result of hacking, state television reported.

"The email account of the ministry was hacked in order to publish inaccurate information" about the reported dismissal of the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali, the ministry said in a statement carried by state television.

The ministry said it "denounces this piracy" and confirmed that "Ambassador Ali is still in his post in Lebanon, and the announcement of his dismissal is baseless." Syrian official news agency SANA also said on Monday that its Facebook page had been hacked.

"As part of an aggressive campaign against our national media, hostile parties have hacked the SANA Facebook page," the agency said, adding that it had no links with the contents of the page, which it was working to deactivate. In late August, SANA said a fake email was sent on its behalf announcing the dismissal of Vice President Faruq al-Shara.