The Saudi, UAE and Egyptian diplomatic envoys to South Africa met Minister of Transport Joseph Maswanganyi and discussed the recent procedures taken by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, regarding aircraft crossing their airspaces.
They pointed out that the decision was taken after the four states uncovered evidence about Qatar’s sponsorship and funding of terrorist groups, which threaten the region’s security and stability.
The quartet decided to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar and close their land borders, seaports and airports, preventing any unauthorised transit into their territories and air spaces, to ban Qatari aeroplanes from entering their air spaces, or landing at their airports.
The envoys pointed out that the four countries are securing the passage of international airliners to and from Qatar. They highlighted international resolutions on combating terrorism and its sources of funding, including UNSC Resolution No. 2309, in which the Security Council stressed that all states should enjoy their sovereignty, including over their territory’s airspace, as well as their territorial integrity and political independence, in accordance with the UN Charter.
UNSC Resolution No. 2309 voices concerns that civil aviation can be used to transport foreign terrorists, they added. The ambassadors said that the current diplomatic actions are being taken after Doha presented a complaint to the Civil Aviation Organisation regarding the decision to ban Qatari aircrafts from flying in the airspaces of the four countries. The South African minister stressed the importance of the meeting, expressing his hope that this crisis will be resolved.

Source: Fana News