Qatar files UN complaint about Bahraini ‘airspace violation’

Qatar has filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against Bahrain, accusing a fighter jet belonging to Manama of violating its airspace at the weekend.

State-run Qatari news agency (QNA) said the airspace violation had taken place on Sunday, describing it as a “serious breach that constitutes a serious and flagrant violation of international law.”

The news agency did not provide further details about the incident.

On Monday, the United Arab Emirates’ official news agency WAM quoted its civil aviation authority as saying that two Qatari fighter jets had flown dangerously close to two Emirati civilian aircraft over Bahrain.

Bahrain also confirmed the incident, saying the UAE aircraft had been forced to fly at a higher altitude.

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

Doha and Abu Dhabi have since January exchanged several accusations of airspace violations.

Last June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the UAE imposed a land, naval and air blockade on Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an allegation strongly denied by Doha.

Doha asked the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to intervene after its neighbors closed their airspace to Qatari flights.

The Saudi-led quartet presented Qatar with a list of demands and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences.

Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and stressed that it would not abandon its independent foreign policy.