Big win for Qatar in UN court verdict against air blockade

THE ICAO IN 2018 RULED IT HAD JURISDICTION TO HANDLE THE DISPUTE BROUGHT BY QATAR, WHICH ACCUSED ITS NEIGHBOURS OF VIOLATING CONVENTION THAT REGULATES FREE PASSAGE OF ITS PLANES

THEHAGUE:The UN’s top court on Tuesday backed Qatar in a bitter row with four West Asian nations that imposed an air blockade against Doha after accusing it of backing radical Islamists and Iran.

The decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) covers a key part of the stand-off that erupted three years ago pitting Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE against Qatar.

Qatar said after the landmark decision that its rivals would “face justice”.

“We welcome today’s decision by the ICJ that will see the blockading states finally face justice for violating international aviation rules,” Qatar minister of transport and communications, Jassim Saif Ahmed al-Sulaiti, said in a statement.

The president of the ICJ, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, said the Hague-based court unanimously “rejects the appeal” by the rival states against a decision by the world civil aviation body in favour of Qatar over sovereign airspace.

The court “holds that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has jurisdiction” in the case, by 15 judges to one, Yusuf said.

The ICAO in 2018 ruled it had the jurisdiction to handle the dispute brought by Qatar, which accused its neighbours of violating a convention that regulates free passage of its planes through foreign airspace.