The official website of Iraq’s most influential and revered Shiite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , was hacked, defaced, then blocked in what appears to be a sectarian-motivated cyber attack, the NYTimes.com reported .
A statement on the website signed as “Group XP” said that the attack was on behalf of Sunni Muslims. After defacing the website, visitors were greeted with a video of comedian Bill Maher making fun of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and his advice to the Shiite faithful.
There was no reaction from Sistani’s camp about the attack.
It should be noted also that almost 300 other Shite-related sites were blocked prior to weekend, making it one of the most coordinated cyber attack against Shiites.
