Al Jazeera restores Twitter account after suspension

By Menna Ahmed and Ahmed al-Masri

DOHA, Qatar (AA) – The Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel said Saturday it had regained its Arab-language account on Twitter after a brief suspension.

The account, which has around 12 million followers, was briefly suspended early Saturday.

Earlier, the pan-Arab television tweeted: "The account of al Jazeera on Twitter @ajarabic is currently suspended due to what seems to be an organized campaign and we are doing the necessary work to get the service back."

The @ajarabic account later resumed, with a message saying: "We bring the attention of our followers to the fact that our main Al Jazeera account @ajarabic is now working again."

The move came amid a diplomatic dispute between Qatar and its Arab neighbors after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen cut off ties with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar denies the accusations, describing the move to isolate it diplomatically as "unjustified".

Saudi Arabia and UAE have blocked Al Jazeera and closed its offices amid the crisis with Qatar.

Jordanian authorities have also shut down Al Jazeera offices in Amman and revoked its license, saying the move aimed to ensure regional stability and came in the context of coordinated policies with Arab countries and to "resolve the crisis" in the region.