Embattled Qatar seeks redress with int’l aviation body

By Ahmed Yousuf and Ali Abo Rezeg

DOHA (AA) - Qatar’s national carrier has called on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to acknowledge the “illegality” of a recent decision by several Gulf states to cancel all their flights to Doha.

Akbar al-Baker, the head of Qatar Airways, issued the appeal during an interview with the CNN television channel that was broadcast Monday evening.

Al-Baker’s entreaty comes one week after three Gulf countries -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain -- abruptly shut all their land-, sea- and air-ports with Qatar.

The closures have forced the Qatari aviation authorities to resort to using Somalia as a transit point for flights into and out of the country.

On June 5, five Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Yemen -- abruptly cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Mauritania followed suit shortly afterward, while Jordan downgraded its diplomatic relations with Doha.

Saudi Arabia has also sealed its land borders with Qatar, geographically isolating the tiny Gulf state.

Qatar, for its part, strenuously denies the accusations, calling the moves to diplomatically isolate it as “unjustified”.