Sat 15 June 2019:
The highest U.N. court on Friday rejected a request by the United Arab Emirates for interim measures to be imposed on Qatar in a racial discrimination dispute. The case centers on the boycott of Qatar by Bahrain, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who accused Doha of supporting “terrorists” and being too close to Iran. Qatar filed a case last year against UAE alleging that the boycott breaches an anti-discrimination convention. Judges issued an interim order that Qatari families separated by the UAE boycott must be allowed to reunite and Qatari students should be allowed to complete their education in the UAE.
Citing legal technicalities, judges at the International Court of Justice rejected by a 15-1 majority a UAE application to compel Qatar to unblock a website that enables family reunifications and to prevent state-run media from aggravating the dispute. They also rejected a request for Doha to drop a similar case at a U.N. anti-discrimination committee. Qatar’s representative to the ICJ said it welcomed the rejection of the “groundless” UAE request. “Qatar brought this case to protect the Qatari people against the UAE’s policy and practice of racial discrimination. It is the Qatari people who are the victims here, and not the government of the UAE,” said Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi.
The U.S. and Western powers have sought to mend fences in the dispute, pointing to the heightened tensions between Washington and Iran, which were inflamed again on Thursday with Washington claiming Iran attacked two tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Qatar and the rest of the Gulf Arab nations host American troops and military bases. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani also recently traveled to Saudi Arabia for two summits, where he briefly shook hands with King Salman. The trip marked the highest-level contact between the neighboring nations since the kingdom-led boycott of Doha began in 2017.
The world court case is likely to take months to complete. No date has been set for hearings.
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