Doha: Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera's Twitter account for its main Arabic-language channel was temporarily "suspended" on Saturday, in the latest incident at the station.

A spokesman for the channel said the cut may have been due to a technical problem and that all Twitter accounts affected were back online.

"Most of our Arabic accounts were blocked, but they are now up-and-running," the spokesman told AFP, adding that it may take several hours for them to be fully restored.

An investigation was taking place to determine the cause, and technical teams from the broadcaster were trying to coordinate with Twitter.

Al Jazeera's main Arabic language account has almost 12 million followers.
The station's English-language account was unaffected.

The announcement that the online accounts were back came around an hour after first reports that some of Al Jazeera's Twitter accounts had been blocked.

Yasser Abu Hilalah, managing director of Al Jazeera Arabic, earlier confirmed the suspension on social media.

The suspension comes at a time of diplomatic crisis in the Gulf after Qatar was cut off by neighbouring countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

“The main Al Jazeera Twitter account has been suspended, and work is ongoing to solve the problem,” Abuhilalah tweeted.

The television channel has long been a target for criticism by other countries in the region, with Al Jazeera banned on several occasions.

There has been speculation that its closure could help end the diplomatic crisis which erupted last month between Qatar and its neighbours.