Arab Quartet seeks ruling on Qatar air space claim
Four Arab countries, including the UAE, will seek to move a case on reopening airspace to Qatari planes from a United Nations aviation agency to the International Court of Justice.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt say the International Civil Aviation Organisation “was not competent to consider that dispute”, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The four Arab nations cut diplomatic and transport links with Qatar in June last year, citing the latter’s support for terrorism and saying the Gulf state was cozying up to Iran.
They also barred Qatar-registered planes from their airspace, while the UAE also accuses Qatar of sending fighter jets to intercept passenger flights and a civilian helicopter in Bahraini airspace.
Qatar filed a case with the ICAO, seeking to force the boycotting countries to reopen their airspace using a dispute resolution mechanism in the Chicago Convention.
The ICAO council agreed to grant Qatar the opportunity to hear the case.
The four nations “believe that the organisation has fully exercised its technical competence” in finding alternative routes for Qatari aircraft, according to the SPA.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt said they
would allow Qatari planes to use air corridors in emergencies.
Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said in March that the boycott would cause the carrier a “very large loss” and that the airline will need to find new streams of financing to survive.
In a separate but similar case, Qatar yesterday appeared before the ICJ, seeking to force the UAE to reopen its skies to the national carrier.
Qatar is seeking immediate relief in the unusual case before the ICJ, the United Nations venue for resolving legal disputes between states.
Qatar’s agent told the court the boycott was having “a devastating impact on Qataris and their families” as thousands were unable to visit family members in the UAE.
Mohammed Al Khulaifi argued to judges that the boycott breached the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – including discrimination on the basis of nationality – a treaty signed by the UAE and Qatar.
The UAE, which has dismissed Qatar’s claims as lies, is due to respond tomorrow. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt are not signatories to the convention.
A provisional ruling could come within two months, al¬though the court has not yet set a date. Court disputes usually take several years before a formal judgment is reached.
The four Arab countries have stood by their decision to boycott Qatar, saying they are willing to re-establish communications with Doha only if it adheres to regional and international agreements and the demands and principles they have issued.
Doha has so far refused to meet the quartet’s demands – including the closure of Qatar-owned Al Jazeera news channel, which the quartet says provides a platform for extremists and dissidents.