Gulf rivals Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
traded accusations on Friday over a complaint by Doha that an Emirati fighter
jet had violated its airspace.
Qatar, which has faced a boycott by Arab states including
the UAE since last June, said it had lodged a protest at the United Nations
about the violation which allegedly took place on December 21.
The Qatari foreign ministry said on its Twitter account
that it informed the UN secretary general and the president of the Security
Council that the UAE jet “flew over the exclusive economic zone of Qatar” for
one minute.
The ministry said that "the UAE plane entered the
airspace of the State of Qatar without prior knowledge or approval of the
competent Qatari authorities.”
It called the incident “a flagrant violation of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar, as well as a
flagrant violation of the provisions of international law, conventions,
charters and international norms.”
The UAE quickly denied the accusation. “The Qatari
complaint about the Emirati violation of its airspace is untrue and confused,”
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Twitter.
“We are working to respond officially to it with evidence
and proof. What we see is an escalation and unjustified,” he said.
“What has been happening under the table is now taking
place in the open,” he added.
Tensions have escalated in the Gulf since Saudi Arabia,
the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar in June, largely isolating
the emirate in the oil-rich Gulf.
The four countries accuse Doha of supporting extremists
and being too close to Iran, Saudi Arabia's arch-rival. They have banned all
flights to and from Doha and cut off most trade links.
Qatar denies the allegations, arguing the bloc aims to
incite regime change in Doha.
Original post: dawn.com
Qatari Exclusive Economic Zone: HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment