Qatar asks UN to resolve airspace row

DUBAI: Qatar has asked the UN’s aviation agency to intervene in an airspace rights’ dispute with three Gulf states after an escalating diplomatic row and trade blockade, two sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Qatar has sent a letter to the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) governing council in an effort to resolve the dispute after Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain closed their airspace to Qatari flights.

The Gulf state has indicated it will ask the council to resolve the conflict using a dispute resolution mechanism under the 1944 Chicago Convention which is overseen by the ICAO.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar a week ago, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting terrorism and getting too close to Iran, all of which Doha denies.

The biggest diplomatic rift in years among the rich states of the Gulf has disrupted Qatar’s imports of food and other materials, although its finance minister has played down the economic toll of the confrontation.

It is not yet clear whether the ICAO council, which is holding regularly scheduled meetings in Montreal this week, would agree to intervene, and how long any efforts would take. The matter is expected to be discussed at council by Friday.

ICAO spokesperson William Raillant-Clark said the agency could not make an immediate comment.

The UN aviation agency, headquartered in Montreal, does not impose binding rules, but wields clout through safety and security standards that are usually followed by its 191-member countries.

Earlier in the day, the chief executive of Qatar Airways told CNN that the ICAO should declare the measures against Qatari air traffic to be illegal.

US President Trump last week waded into the worst Gulf Arab rift in years and praised the pressure on Qatar, which Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain accuse of supporting Iran and funding Islamist groups, charges Doha denies. – Reuters