A former Rangers player was among more than 20 Ibrox fans used by an anti-Qatar group seeking to organise a protest against the Amir of Qatar on Twitter.
Derek Carcary, 32, and 21 other supporters sent mostly identical messages to comedian Janey Godley, who was among those who opposed US President Donald Trump's recent visit to the UK.
Each tweet asked her: ‘hi @Janey Godley are you gonna protest or are you aware of any protest planned for The Emir of Qatar, SheikhTamim bin Hamad Al-Thani?'
News of the bizarre Twitter bombardment emerged after it was revealed that struggling actors were offered £20 to join a fake protest against the Amir outside Downing Street on Tuesday.
The extras were invited by casting agency, Extra People, to 'fill space' during the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The company later pulled out saying it did not want to be involved in the protests. It claimed to have been contacted by a firm called Neptune PR, asking for 500 demonstrators in Westminster. Neptune denied any involvement.
It has been speculated in press reports that Qatar’s opponents in the Middle East were behind the fake protests.
In June 2017 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt launched a diplomatic and transport blockade of the tiny Gulf state accusing it of cosying up to Iran and supporting extremism, which Doha denies.
But all attempts to organise a 'protest' on the occasion of His Highness the Amir failed miserably.
The tweets at Godley started as far back as Saturday, ruling out a copycat version of the Downing Street story, which did not break until Monday evening.
On Saturday Carcary, who has also played for Queen of the South and Raith Rovers, re-tweeted an anti-Qatar message from ProActive Patriots which read: "The Emir of Qatar visits London on Monday to meet the PM.. Surely more will turn out to protest this than Trump."
Some Rangers fans contacted by The Herald claimed they were attacking Godley’s hypocrisy for going after Trump, but not other world leaders.
But none of the accounts appeared to have shown any interest in Middle East politics before.
Godley, who is also a Rangers fan, has been subjected to previous attacks by Rangers fans over her support for independence.
But she told The Herald she did not believe the references to Qatar were ‘sinister’.
Author James Corbett said: "This is mad. Maybe ideologically minded Rangers fans have added Trumpism, pro-Saudi politics to unionism and Zionism in their list of ‘causes’. "
The identical tweets at Godley started as far back as Saturday, ruling out a copycat version of the Downing Street story, which did not break until Monday evening.
