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Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 14:39
Qatar files aviation complaint against Bahrain at UN
By Agencies
Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 14:39 By Agencies

This US Navy photo shows a Qatar Emiri Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet as it takes off as part of a Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn mission in Souda Bay, Greece on March 25, 2011. A top Emirati aviation official accused Qatar on Tuesday of allowing its military fighter jets to come dangerously close to a large airplane and a helicopter, allegations which Doha immediately denied. (PHOTO / AFP)

DUBAI — Qatar accused a Bahrain war plane of violating its airspace and has reported the breach to the UN Security Council, the state news agency QNA reported on Wednesday. 

It did not provide any details about the incident which it said took place on Sunday, only saying that it was a "serious breach that constitutes a serious and flagrant violation of international law". 

Qatar alleged that a Bahrain war plane had violated its airspace on Sunday, but did not provide any details about the incident

On Monday, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain civil aviation authorities said two Qatari military fighter jets had flown dangerously close to a large airplane and a helicopter from the UAE while they were in Bahraini airspace, and that complaints would be lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations' aviation agency. 

Qatar denied the claim in a statement by its civil aviation authority, saying that the UAE was trying to cover up for its own violations of Qatari airspace. 

ALSO READ: UAE says Qatari jet fighters intercepted civilian flights

Ismaeil al-Blooshi of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) declined to offer specifics about the aircraft involved in the alleged incidents on Monday in international waters off the coast of Bahrain, an island near Saudi Arabia.

"I can assure the general public ... we will take all necessary measures to protect the safety of aviation," said al-Blooshi, the GCAA's assistant director-general for aviation safety. 

Bahrain's state-run news agency however, identified the plane as an Airbus A320 with a tail number corresponding to an aircraft flown by the ruling family of Fujairah, one of the UAE's seven emirates. Fujairah officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Al-Blooshi said the Emirati aircraft was at 32,000 feet and climbing when it noticed a "blip" on its radar. Within minutes, the Qatari fighter jets came within 700 feet of the Emirati aircraft, causing collision-avoidance warnings to sound and forcing pilots to quickly climb to 35,000 feet, he added.

His comments mirror those reported by officials in Bahrain, another of the nations along with the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia now boycotting Doha.

The Qatari fighter jets came within 700 feet of an Emirati aircraft, causing collision-avoidance warnings to sound and forcing the aircraft pilots to quickly climb to 35,000 feet

Ismaeil al-Blooshi, Assistant director-general for aviation safety, General Civil Aviation Authority

Data from FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website, shows that an Airbus A320 associated with Fujairah's ruling family flew on Monday en route to Rome and did climb to 35,000 feet near Bahrain. However, that data did not offer an explanation for the gain in altitude.

The second incident, involving the helicopter, happened at 7,000 feet and authorities have less information, al-Blooshi said. He said an investigation into both incidents was underway.

Across the world, military aircraft are understood to have wide latitude in their operations. However, al-Blooshi called the Qatari fighter jets' alleged conduct on Monday dangerous.

Qatar had previously accused Emirati military jets of violating its air space in December and January in two incidents, filing a complaint to the UN. The UAE denied those allegations and filed its own complaints over similar alleged incidents in January.

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed travel, diplomatic and trade sanctions on Qatar last June, accusing it of supporting regional foe Iran as well as Islamist extremists. Qatar has denied the charge and accused the four countries of trying to make it conform to their foreign policy positions. 

Qatar in June 2017 asked the ICAO to intervene after its Gulf neighbours closed their airspace to Qatar flights as part of the sanctions.

READ MORE: Qatar files complaint to UN over air, sea territorial violations

For those flying in the region from Dubai, passengers have gotten used to seeing flights divert either north or south over Qatar, a peninsular nation that sticks out like a thumb in the Persian Gulf. Al-Blooshi said there was no formal order from the GCAA demanding airlines to fly those routes, though officials likely would consider whether to issue one after concluding their investigation.

The GCAA's chairman, Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri, said the UAE would complain again to the UN over Monday's incident. He did not elaborate while speaking to journalists outside an event featuring South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

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