UAE accuses Qatar warplanes of intercepting civilian flights

UAE’s state news agency WAM quoted the country’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) as saying on Monday that “it had received a complaint from one of the UAE’s national carriers that one of its aircraft on a flight to Manama on a normal route had been intercepted by Qatari fighters”.

Another Emirati aircraft was allegedly intercepted while it was landing in Manama, according to WAM.

A member of Qatar’s royal family said Sunday he is being held against his will in the United Arab Emirates, a claim disputed by the UAE government, which said he is free to move as he pleases, CNN reported.

Qatari Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al Thani, the brother of Qatar’s former ruler, said in a video on Twitter that he is “in a state of captivity” in Abu Dhabi.

“They told me do not leave. I am worried that I am to be accused of something. I just want to inform you that if anything happened to me, Qatar is innocent and I am under the hospitality of Sheikh Mohammed and if anything were to happen to me, then it’s on him,” Al Thani said, referring to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.