UAE Orders Air Force Not to Escalate Qatar Dispute

The UAE Air Force performs during Dubai Airshow November 8, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo

A military official in the UAE Air Force said that the UAE military vessels rely entirely on the usual routes with Saudi Arabia, in order to avoid any new attacks by Qatar, in the wake of Doha’s failure to adhere to international conventions and treaties.
 
Air Force Brigadier General Helal Saeed al-Qubaisi told reporters at a news conference in the capital Abu Dhabi that Qatar has launched four documented attacks against the UAE military aircraft, explaining that the army was instructed not to escalate the crisis with Qatar despite all the provocations.
 
“We got orders not to escalate and to commit to regional safety and security,” Qubaisi stated.
 
The UAE said that Qatari warplanes had twice intercepted its civilian aircraft on Jan. 15 during routine flights to Bahrain. It has also accused Qatari warplanes of harassing three of its military aircraft in international airspace on Dec. 27 and Jan. 12.
 
Qubaisi said that his country informed the US that Qatari fighter jets intercepted UAE aircraft, while the Americans responded that the Qatari warplanes were in training.
 
The General Authority of Civil Aviation in the UAE said that two Qatari warplanes flew two times at a dangerous distance from the two Emirates aircraft as they landed at Bahrain International Airport, in two separate incidents, and the pilots and passengers were able to see them.
 
In earlier remarks, Saif Al Suwaidi, General Manager of the General Authority of Civil Aviation in the UAE, said he was confident that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) could prevent Qatar from repeating what happened.
 
He noted that the UAE might consider changing the course of its aircraft in a precautionary measure.