UAE piles pressure on Qatar as tensions rise over terror links

Deserted: Hamad International Airport in Doha. - AFP

The United Arab Emirates feels that "enough is enough" when it comes to those in our region who encourage and fund terrorism, said Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash as the country banned all international flights serving Doha from flying through its airspace. The website of Qatar Airways was also shut in the country in a day of hectic developments as Doha remained defiant and said diplomacy is the only way out of the crisis.

In 2014, the US Treasury singled out Qatar both for its backing of Hamas - whose leaders operated from Qatar's capital, Doha - and as a source of funds for Al Qaeda.

Yet since then nothing has changed. Hamas is still a favoured guest of the Qatari government, which has failed to crack down on terror financing. It hosts and funds the Muslim Brotherhood, he said as the UAE widened its punitive measures against Doha.

Emirates Post Group also suspended all postal services to Qatar, state news agency WAM said, the latest in a series of measures degrading commercial and communications links with Doha.

The Abu Dhabi Petroleum Ports Authority reimposed a ban on oil tankers linked to Qatar calling at ports in the UAE, reversing an earlier decision to ease restrictions, and potentially creating a logjam of crude cargoes.

UAE's airspace will be closed to any planes flying to or from the Qatari capital until further notice, the country's civil aviation authority said. The move expands on an earlier ban on direct flights between the two countries and UAE travel restrictions outlined on Wednesday on Qatari passport-holders and citizens of other nations who have Qatari residence permits.

The UAE joined countries including neighbours Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in severing diplomatic ties with Qatar this week as well as any air, sea or land links. Qatar's continued support of terror groups led to the crisis.

With many Arabian peninsula nations now either shutting their airspace to Qatar or demanding advance clearance, planes serving the country are now limited to routes to its north, via Iran and Kuwait. That disrupts flights to Doha particularly from Africa, India and Southeast Asia, which would usually use shortcuts over Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Qatar Airways said on Wednesday that it chartered four flights to return passengers from Saudi Arabia to Doha via Kuwait or Oman, which haven't cut ties. The carrier didn't respond on Thursday to requests for comment on the UAE's move.

In an interview with AFP, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's foreign minister, said calls for a change in Qatari policy were unacceptable.

"No one has the right to intervene in our foreign policy," Sheikh Mohammed said.

FAST-PACE DEVELOPMENTS