ICAO headquarters- File photo
CAIRO – 24 June 2017: After Qatar sought to reopen the Gulf airspaces during a special hearing at the Montreal-headquartered International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Friday, the organization stayed away, saying it will not touch political issues.
The “council decided today that its role in regional conflict is limited to ensure the safety and security of air navigation and we will not touch upon political issues, for lack of jurisdiction,” BBC aviation analyst Alex Macheras tweeted on Friday.
On June 15, the United Nation Aviation said it would review a request, submitted by Qatar, to intervene after the Arab and Gulf States, mainly Egypt , Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, had closed their airspace and maritime navigation for the Qatari transportation early June, according to Reuters.
The ICAO decision came following a meeting held with the aviation ministers and senior officials from the four countries and Qatar in its headquarters on Thursday. The Arab countries’ representatives discuss with the ICAO Secretary- general Fang Liu the reasons behind closing the Gulf airspace against Qatar.
The Ministers confirmed that the measures of closing airspaces have been taken in accordance with the international laws of counter-terrorism, Saudi newspaper al-Weeam reported on June 16.
Arab and Gulf countries severed their ties with Qatar over accusations of “supporting terrorist group.” They also labeled a total of 59 individuals and 12 organizations, have ties with Qatar, as “terrorists”. The four countries also have sent Doha an ultimatum of 13-point demands should be carried out in 10 days to end this stand-off.
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