The Qatari government has accused Bahrain of violating its airspace in a rare such reaction since relations were severed two years ago over a diplomatic standoff between Arab states in the Persian Gulf region.
Qatar’s news agency said on Saturday the country’s envoy to the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani had submitted a letter to the UN Secretary-General informing the authority about a violation of Qatari airspace by a Bahrain Air Force aircraft late last year.
It said Sheikha Alya had strongly protested in the letter Bahrain’s act of violation which took place on December 27, 2018, saying the alleged breach had come “without the prior authorization of the competent Qatari authorities”.
The ambassador also called on the UN to take the necessary measures to put an end to the “tendentious Bahraini violations” which she said had been repeated in recent times.
The alleged violation and the subsequent protest is the latest to come from a diplomatic stand-off between Qatar and Persian Gulf Arab countries allied to Saudi Arabia. The two sides severed diplomatic ties in June 2017 when Saudis came up with accusations of Qatar’s support for terrorism.
Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying it has been deliberately isolated by the Arab alliance because Doha wants to maintain an independent line of foreign policy.
The Qatari government has also rejected a series of Riyadh’s conditions for restoring diplomatic ties, including one that demands the country to reduce relations with Iran.
In her letter to the UN, Sheikha Alya said Qatar will continue to exercise restraint on Bahrain’s continued violations of air space, but she insisted that Doha would not hesitate to take the necessary measures to defend its borders, airspace and sea and its national security in the face of violations.
