ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 14th Jul, 2020) The International Court of Justice, ICJ, today held that the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, has jurisdiction to address Qatar’s civil aviation allegations against the United Arab Emirates, UAE, and others. The UAE announced that it will now put its legal case to ICAO supporting the right to close its airspace to Qatari aircraft.
"The ICJ’s decision was technical and limited to procedural issues and jurisdiction to address the dispute; it did not consider the merits of the case," said Dr. Hissa Abdullah Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the Netherlands. "We have the highest respect for the Court and will be looking at its decision closely. There are important points in the judgment that the UAE and Quartet will rely on in proceedings before the ICAO Council. We note that other important questions have been left unanswered by the judgment; issues that we will address in front of the ICAO Council.'' "We look forward to explaining to the ICAO Council that the UAE restricted Qatari planes from UAE airspace as one of a number of measures flowing from the termination of relations by ten states, including the UAE,’’ Al Otaiba said.
"This was in response to Qatar’s longstanding support for terrorist and extremist groups and its active steps to promote unrest in the region. The UAE believes that the Council will not attempt to second-guess the national security decisions of ICAO member states. In the meantime, the UAE’s airspace measures remain in effect.
"This crisis will not be resolved in ICAO or in any other international organisation. Relations will only improve when Qatar implements the Riyadh Agreements and is willing to demonstrate that it will play a constructive role in the region," she added.
