The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates, opposing a decision by the Civil Aviation Organization regarding the Gulf crisis, said in an official statement that Qatar has not fulfilled its obligations before the International Court of Justice on the eve of the start of arguments in the resumption of Arab countries.
The official source added that the dispute with Doha would be a political dispute, not related to civil aviation, but its fundamental reason would lie in Qatar’s support of terrorism and extremism, therefore it could not be decided by the Council of the Civil Aviation Organization ICAO, as it is a civil organization, specialized in the field of aviation only.
On Monday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague opened proceedings on objections to the jurisdiction of the ICAO council on their resolution issued on June 28, 2018 – which aimed to resolve the political dispute between the Arab Quartet (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates) against Qatar.
According to the UAE Foreign Ministry’s statement, for the last couple of years the four boycotting countries have taken some severe measures against the Qatari government to protect their national security, in addition to what the UAE called ” Doha’s support of terrorism, extremism and terrorist financing.”
Representing the UAE in the proceedings as an agent before the court, Dr. Hissa Abdullah Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the Netherlands, affirmed that the imposition of airspace restrictions on Qatari-owned and registered aircrafts by the four countries are based on the protection of the countries’ national security.
The resolutions issued by those countries came in response to Qatar’s breaches of the Riyadh Agreements and other obligations in the field of counterterrorism and its attempt to escape the implementation of its international obligations to “cease its financing of internationally sanctioned terror groups, halt its harboring of terrorists, and end its use of media organizations to promote discord in the region”.
Speaking after the first day’s proceedings, Ambassador Al Otaiba noted that the International Court of Justice will consider arguments from both parties from 2 to 6 December and will review numerous evidence and legal briefs. The UAE is confident that the judges of the International Court of Justice will consider with interest the nature of this dispute and the objectivity of the arguments submitted and will make appropriate decisions in their judgment.
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