Two Qataris acquitted in alleged Al Jazeera document theft

Manama: Al Jazeera television channel has had to deal with its own version of WikiLeaks after two Qataris allegedly used a confidential document "stolen" from the pan-Arab station as evidence of favouritism towards foreign staff.

The Qataris, a woman and a man, were accused by Al Jazeera of hacking its computers to retrieve confidential information and use it to produce a report that they posted online.

According to the case papers, the Qataris, a journalist and a website owner, allegedly wanted to corroborate reports that an expatriate legal expert had been recruited by Al Jazeera on a plush salary even though a Qatari citizen could have taken the job.

However, after several hearings, the criminal court in Doha ruled that the two Qataris were not guilty and acquitted them of the charges, Qatari daily Al Arab reported.