Qatar suit against UAE dismissed

The World Court on Thursday dismissed a case brought by Qatar against UAE alleging it had imposed measures that amounted to racial discrimination.

In an 11-6 decision, the court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, upheld objections raised by the UAE that the measures it and other Gulf states imposed on Qatar were based on nationality, and not racially motivated.

The court found that Qatar's attempts to base its complaint on the United Nations' 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination lacked merit and so the court had no jurisdiction in the dispute. The governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE imposed measures against Qatar in 2017.

Qatar and its neighbours agreed last month to restore diplomatic, trade and travel ties, rendering the outcome of the World Court case less urgent.