CAIRO, March 27: A major Internet portal accused Israeli hackers on Friday of an attack following its presentation of a file on slain Palestinian militant leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

"The attack by the Israeli hackers began after the presentation of interviews that we had done previously with Sheikh Yassin," Abdel Hadi Abu Taleb of www.islamonline.net said.

He said the portal had to suspend the file for three hours on Thursday.

Another official, Hussameddine Sayyed, said it had "received many threatening messages from Israelis in the past."

Created in 1999 and based in Cairo, the portal says its number of visitors has surged dramatically since Monday's assassination.

It offers information in Arabic and English as well as fatwas, or religious edicts, including those from well-known Qatari cleric Yussef al-Qaradawi.-AFP