UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 13, 2016/ REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
CAIRO – 12 January 2018: “The Qatari complaint regarding a violation by the UAE of its airspace is incorrect and confusing. We are working to respond to it officially with evidence,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Anwar Gargash, said on Friday.
Gargash wrote on his official Twitter account that Qatar is unjustifiably escalating the issue and “that what was happening under the table will be revealed.”
Qatar has filed a complaint to the United Nations (UN) about an alleged violation of its airspace in December by an Emirati military aircraft, state news agency QNA reported, according to Reuters.
UAE is one of the four Arab countries – the Quartet – that severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and demanded that Doha meets a list of 13 demands in order for dialogue to be resumed. The other three countries are Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
They issued 13 demands to Doha – then shortened them to six principles, including closing Al-Jazeera channel, curbing relations with Iran and shutting the Turkish military base.
Saudi Arabia subsequently ordered Qatari citizens in the Kingdom to leave within 14 days. On June 18, Saudi Arabia shut the Salwa crossing, following the deadline. In August, King Salman of Saudi Arabia decided to allow Qatari pilgrims to access the country through the Salwa crossing, but the crossing was later shut again.
In 2014, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors in Qatar, after they failed to stop Qatar from interfering in the GCC countries’ internal affairs, according to a statement issued by the three countries
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