Doha seeks no escalation with Abu Dhabi over military overflights: Qatar's FM
Qatar's foreign minister says Doha seeks no military escalation with the United Arab Emirates amid a growing row between the Persian Gulf neighbors over airspace violations.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said during the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday that the rift between Doha and its neighbors was hampering regional security cooperation.
"Qatar will never provoke any country," media outlets quoted Sheikh Mohammed as saying.
The top Qatari diplomat said Doha welcomed comments by a senior UAE military official this week that the military had received orders not to worsen the seven-month dispute with Doha.
"As far as we know, there is no intention about this military conflict. We have seen their announcement yesterday which we have welcomed. For us we don't see any solution other than resorting to dialogue."
The remarks come following a renewed bout of verbal sparring between the two Persian Gulf states over alleged military overflights.
Earlier this month Qatar accused UAE military planes of repeatedly violating its airspace.
On January 12, Qatar lodged a complaint with the UN about an alleged violation of its airspace on December 21 by an Emirati military plane.
Doha also alleged a day later that a second Emirati warplane had violated Qatari airspace as it was traveling from the UAE to Bahrain on January 3 “without prior authorization.”
This is while Bahrain and the UAE said Qatari warplanes had harassed two civilian Emirati airliners.
On January 18, the UAE said it had filed a formal complaint with the UN over Qatar’s alleged interceptions of two Bahrain-bound Emirati passenger planes three days earlier.
Tensions have escalated in the Persian Gulf region after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar last year, accusing Doha of sponsoring “terrorism” and destabilizing the region.
The Saudi-led bloc has also imposed sanctions against Doha, including restrictions on Qatari aircraft using their airspace. To further pressure Qatar, Saudi Arabia has totally closed its land border with its tiny neighbor, through which much of Qatar's food supply crossed.
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