Quartet files appeals with ICJ over Qatari claims

amsterdam — The anti-terror quartet, comprising Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, on Saturday jointly filed appeals with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in respect of the decisions of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) issued last week following claims lodged by Qatar with ICAO.

The Bahrain News Agency (BNA) quoted Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s non-resident ambassador to the Netherlands, as saying that the four states agree that ICAO does not have the jurisdiction to look into such claims, since the dispute is unrelated to civil aviation or the civil aviation safety.

“The decisions of the ICAO council did not concern the substance of Qatar’s claims before ICAO and only address the question of whether the ICAO council has competence to hear these claims. The four states maintain that the ICAO council does not have such competence, since their dispute with Qatar concerns issues that are entirely unrelated to civil aviation or aviation safety,” he said.

Accordingly, he continued, the four states disagree with the decisions of the ICAO council, which are, moreover, procedurally irregular, and have asked the ICJ to set them aside. The final decision on these matters will be made by the ICJ. Pending the ICJ’s decision, the ICAO proceedings are suspended. —