Qatar asks UN to resolve airspace row

MONTREAL/DUBAI - Qatar has asked the UN aviation agency to intervene in an airspace rights' dispute with three Gulf states following an escalating diplomatic row and trade blockade, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Qatar has sent a letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization's governing council in an effort to resolve the dispute after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain closed their airspace to Qatari flights.

The Gulf state has indicated that it will ask the council to resolve the conflict, one of the sources said, using a dispute resolution mechanism under the 1944 Chicago Convention which is overseen by ICAO. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because council business is discussed in private.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar a week ago, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting "terrorism".

The biggest diplomatic rift in years among the rich states of the Gulf region has disrupted Qatar's imports of food and other materials, although its finance minister has played down the economic toll of the confrontation.

Saudi Arabia's aviation body said on Tuesday that closing its airspace to flights from Qatar was within its sovereign rights to protect its citizens from any threat.

It is not yet clear whether the ICAO council, which is holding regularly scheduled meetings in Montreal this week, would agree to intervene, and how long any efforts would take.

The UN agency, which is headquartered in Montreal, does not impose binding rules, but wields clout through safety and security standards that are usually followed by its 191-member countries.

Earlier in the day, the chief executive of Qatar Airways told CNN that the ICAO should declare the measures against Qatari air traffic to be illegal.

"We have legal channels to object to this," he said. "ICAO ... should heavily get involved, put their weight behind this to declare this an illegal act."

Baker said 18 destinations were now out of bounds for the airline.

He also criticized Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both members of ICAO's governing council, for shutting down the airline's offices.

Reuters - Xinhua