The United Arab Emirates has claimed that Qatari fighter jets have intercepted one of its passenger planes after allegations that a Qatari royal was being held captive in Abu Dhabi.
A commercial airliner was intercepted in international airspace during a flight to Bahrain, according to the UAE’s state-run news agency which cited aviation officials.
Doha has denied the claim but the row threatens to escalate tensions between Qatar and the four Arab nations that have been boycotting it for months – among them the United Arab Emirates, home to the world’s busiest international airport.
It comes after a controversial member of Qatar’s royal family said he was being detained in the UAE, a claim quickly denial by Emirati officials on Sunday.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani (right, with Saudi King Salman) a controversial member of Qatar’s royal family has said he is being detained in the UAE. The claim was quickly denied by Emirati officials on Sunday
Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani, a little-known royal, emerged as a key figure in the dispute between the Gulf states in the weeks after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi cut ties with Doha in June. He is seen by some as a potential challenger to the Qatari leadership.
A video circulating online, also broadcast by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, shows the sheikh warning that he was ‘afraid something could happen to me that will be blamed on Qatar’.
‘I am now in Abu Dhabi, where I was a guest of (UAE crown prince) Sheikh Mohammed’ bin Zayed al-Nahyan, said Sheikh Abdullah. ‘That is no longer the case. I am now detained.’
‘I want to make clear that the people of Qatar are innocent,’ the sheikh said. ‘Sheikh Mohammed bears full responsibility for anything that happens to me.’
The UAE denied that Sheikh Abdullah was being held against his will, with state news agency WAM reporting he was in the country ‘at his own behest’.
‘Sheikh Abdullah has had unrestrained mobility and freedom of movement during his stay in the UAE,’ WAM cited an unnamed foreign ministry official as saying.
A commercial airliner was intercepted in international airspace during a flight to Bahrain, according to the UAE’s state-run news agency which cited aviation officials. Officials in Doha (file picture) have denied the claim
‘Subsequently Sheikh Abdullah had expressed his desire to leave the UAE following which all measures were taken to honour his desire without any reservation.’
Ali Rashed al-Nuaimi, who heads the UAE’s Hedayda counter-extremism centre, meanwhile tweeted that Sheikh Abdullah had asked to stay in the Emirates ‘for his own safety’.
‘For the record, a trusted source confirmed that Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani is free to leave the United Arab Emirates as he likes and to whatever destination he likes,’ Nuaimi wrote.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June over allegations that Doha supported Islamist extremists and had close ties to regional rival Iran. Doha denies the accusations.
In response to the video, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Lulwa al-Khater, said Doha was monitoring the situation.
‘The state of Qatar observes the situation closely, and due to the total severance of ties with the UAE it is difficult to clearly establish the circumstances surrounding the situation,’ she said in a statement.
‘Despite that, the State of Qatar principally stands with the protection of rights for every individual and affirms the entitlement of his family to pursue all legal means for the protection of his rights.’
In August, Sheikh Abdullah met powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to mediate on reopening a land border to allow Qatari pilgrims to perform the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
It was the first public high-level encounter between the two nations since the diplomatic crisis erupted.
Doha was quick to point out that he was in Saudi Arabia in a personal capacity and did not represent the government.
Qatari officials also accused Gulf rivals of seeking regime change in Doha and replacing Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani with Sheikh Abdullah – who belongs to a branch of the Al-Thani family that has seen its power eroded but is still well-connected in the Gulf.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s two major airlines declined to comment this morning on allegations of a plane being intercepted.
It follows two complaints by Qatar to the United Nations about Emirati military aircraft allegedly violating its international airspace amid the diplomatic crisis.
The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency made the claim on Monday, citing the country’s General Civil Aviation Authority.
‘The GCAA received a message from one of the UAE’s national carriers on Monday morning that one of its aircraft on a flight to Manama on a normal route had been intercepted by Qatari fighters,’ the report said.
‘The flight was a regular, scheduled service on a known flight-path that met all the required and internationally recognized approvals and permits.’
WAM did not identify the carrier involved, nor did it elaborate on details of the purported encounter.
Saif Al Thani, a Qatari government spokesman, denied the UAE’s claim on Twitter, calling it ‘completely untrue.’ He promised a detailed statement would come later Monday.
The UAE is home to two major national carriers, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Dubai-based Emirates. Both airlines declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.
U.S. Air Force Central Command, which is based at the sprawling al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, also did not immediately have any report about any incident involving a commercial aircraft in the region, said Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, an Air Force spokesman. However, Pickart cautioned that U.S. forces don’t routinely monitor the flights and operations of the Qatari air force.
Recently, Qatar accused Emirati military jets of violating its air space in December and January in two incidents, filing a complaint to the United Nations.