The continuing violations of Qatari air space by the siege countries, particularly the UAE and Bahrain, are serious in its nature and a challeng to the sovereignty of Qatar and should be addressed by the international community. The latest in this series was the violation by a Bahraini fighter jet which flew over Qatari air space on March 25.
The State of Qatar has reported the incident to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and thePresident of the UN Security Council, Karel van Oosterom, terming it as a breach of its sovereignty.
The violations, which occurred last Sunday, were the latest of several such incidents in recent months.
On January 14, an Emirati military aircraft flew over Qatar’s territorial waters without Doha’s authorisation and on February 25, another Emirati aircraft approached Qatari borders before receiving warnings and switching course.
Emirati and Bahraini military aircraft had similarly flown over Qatar’s exclusive economic zone on March 10 beforebeing intercepted by a Qatari fighter jet.
There is no doubt that these types of actions are serious and a flagrant vio-lation of international law that would increase tension in the region.
Qatar has continuedits policy of restraint towards these irresponsible and provocative practices, throughout the last several months since an illegal blockade was imposed on the nation even though it reserves the right to respond to any violations and take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and defend its borders, airspace,territorial waters in line with international laws and regulations.
Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, had informed the top officials of the UN about the violations time to time, and renewed its call to take necessary measures under the charter in order to maintain international peace and security and put an end to repeated violations.
The siege countries’ heinous attempts to malign Qatar received a setback as the top US Commander made it clear that Washington had no plans to move the US airbase at Udeid.
The Commander of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, expressed his dismay at the false news propagated by the siege countries.
Gen. Votel lauded Qatar for supportingthe efforts of the international coalition against terrorism, pointing out that US is looking forward tocontinue relationship with Qatar.
He also said that Qatar has been a good partner to the US in the region, hoping that some of the tensions are addressed and they will not have an impact on security.
The General stressed his country’s continuous partnership with Qatar in order to protect the region and its stability.
The top US commander’s endorsement once again vindicated that Qatar stands for justice and the false allegations perpetrated against this nation by the siege countries will ultimately fail.
