Sunday, 21 January 2018

Qatar military plane intercepts UAE civilian aircraft

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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