Dassault Mirage 2000, Qatar's Fighter Jet. Photo by U.S.
Navy Photo by Paul Farley.
Filed on January 15, 2018 | Last updated on
January 15, 2018 at 01.55 pm
The UAE strongly condemned the move, and said it will
take every step possible to ensure safety of its planes and passengers.
The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority on Monday
announced that Qatar's military aircraft intercepted a civilian UAE plane when
it was on its way to Manama in Bahrain.
According to the authority, the aircraft was on a
scheduled flight to a known destination, and this move by Qatar was a severe
violation of international law, and an infringement of safety standards.
The UAE strongly condemned the move, and said it will
take every step possible to ensure safety of its planes and passengers.
Original post: khaleejtimes.com
Qatari action on jets harmful for civilians: UAE
ABU DHABI: The UAE will follow all official international
channels, including contacting the International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) about Qatar’s interception of two regular UAE aircraft en route to
Bahrain, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has
stated.
The statement came during a briefing organised by the
ministry at its premises on Wednesday for the ambassadors of permanent members
of the UN Security Council to the UAE and those of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and
Egypt.
The briefing, attended by representatives of the UAE
Armed Forces and the General Civil Aviation Authority, GCAA, refuted the Qatari
allegations that a UAE military aircraft violated Qatar’s airspace. Radar
footages documenting Qatari violations were presented by UAE Armed Forces and
GCAA during the briefing.
Footages were shown, which evidenced that the UAE
military aircraft accused by Doha of violating Qatari airspace was flying over
the UAE air space over a training zone acknowledged by the two countries and
that its mission did not last more than 30 seconds.
Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,
said at the briefing that the actions by the Qatari aircraft against the UAE
aircraft and the international air safety showed clearly that the authorities
in Qatar are determined to escalate the situation. What happened was not an
accident, but rather part of a trend that placed civilian lives in jeopardy, he
said.
“We are really talking here about facts and incident
escalation. We ask our honoured ambassadors convening here to understand that
this is not part of the rhetoric we hear in each incident. A disaster was about
to happen. However, the UAE will not escalate and will follow legal channels
and we have strong grounding for this.”
“The UAE response will be balanced, legal and in
conformity with international laws and regulations,” he added, affirming that
the Qatari actions are irresponsible escalation.
The Qatari actions prove that the Qatari authorities
don’t respect international laws and conventions and endanger air safety and
passengers’ lives, said the GCAA.
During the meeting, presentations and a short video by
the GCAA and the UAE Armed Forces were shown that included radar footage
documenting in real time two other separate incidents of interception of two
military cargo aircraft that were flying over the Arabian Gulf by Qatari Mirage
fighters. Though the two aircraft were well clear of the Qatari Air Space, the
footages showed that they were followed by the Qatari fighters.
The footage also indicated that the UAE civilian aircraft
intercepted by Qatar’s Air Force, which took off from the Al Odaid Air Base,
were flying well clear of Qatari air space and that they were regular,
scheduled, flights, following well-known routes, with the relevant approvals
and internationally recognised permits. WAM.
Source: gulftoday.ae
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