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Qatar denies intercepting UAE civilian jets

January 15, 2018 at 3:58 pm

UAE jets [Aaron Allmon, U.S. Air Force/Wikipedia]

Qatar has denied earlier reports that its fighter jets had intercepted a UAE civilian aircraft.

The UAE claimed today that Qatari fighter jets intercepted two of its commercial airliners in international airspace on the way to Bahrain.

The claim was made on UAE’s state-run WAM news agency and cited 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 WAM report said. “The flight was a regular, scheduled service on a known flight-path that met all the required and internationally recognised approvals and permits.”

Qatari authorities have strongly denied the claim saying it was false. A spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the allegation on twitter saying: “The state of Qatar announces that the claims of Qatari fighter planes intercepting UAE civil aircraft is completely false. A detailed statement will follow.”

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