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UAE seeks ICJ's help to mount pressure on Qatar

Agencies
May 11, 2019

Abu Dhabi, May 11: UAE has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the documents and arguments presented to the Court by Qatar against the UAE were either fabricated or outright counterfactual. The UAE requested the World Court to take punitive steps necessary to stop Qatar from its cynical attempts to manipulate the international forums for settling scores with its neighbours.

The submission made by the UAE at the conclusive session of the three-day ICJ hearing stressed that the Qataris whose rights to enter the UAE were allegedly violated had never used the hotline set up for the purpose in June 2017 or apply for entry permits. The UAE pointed out that similar fabrication of names and documents by Qatar happened in the case with Bahrain as well. The hearing on Thursday, May 9 took place to consider the UAE's request for interim action for protecting its sovereign rights and adjudicating its complaints against Qatar.

The UAE Ambassador to the Netherlands Dr Hessa Al Otaiba said in her conclusive remarks that the submission presented to the Court by the UAE's legal team showed beyond any shadow of doubt that the UAE had never indulged in racial discrimination as alleged by Qatar. She added that Qatar was continuously escalating the conflict and making resolution of the crisis even harder.

The UAE pointed out that Qatar was actually misusing the Agreement for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with a view to defaming the UAE by lodging two separate cases on the same issue. The documents submitted by the UAE also confirmed that Qatar had used its vast media network to spread lies and falsehoods against the UAE about the issues brought to the Court's attention.

The UAE also disproved the allegation that it had expelled Qatari citizens from the country. Interestingly, Qatar admitted before the Court that it had blocked on grounds of security the website through which its citizens could apply for entry permits. This, the UAE asserted, was a ploy to cook up evidence against the UAE and claim it was defying the Court's decision.

Pointing out that the Court had taken some interim action while it considered the Qatari pleas, the UAE Ambassador said that the UAE expected the same from the Court in respect to the UAE's pleas.

"All that we are asking is for the Court to protect the UAE's rights on an equal footing. We request the Court to order Qatar to unblock our website for Qataris to apply for entry permits. Blocking the website is a typical Qatari ploy to prevent us from facilitating the visit of their citizens to the UAE and to create the impression that we were discriminating against them," she explained.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Dubai, May 1: Saudi Arabia has reported 1,344 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 24,097, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

The ministry also announced 7 more deaths and 392 new recoveries, raising the total number of fatalities and recoveries to 169 and 3,55 respectively.

Out of the 1,344 new cases reported today, 282 were confirmed in Riyadh, 237 in Madinah, 207 in Makkah, 171 in Jubail and 124 in Jeddah in addition to 114 infections in Dammam.

Authorities continue to urge people to stay at home unless necessary despite having relaxed some restrictions and curfews at the start of Ramadan.

Citizens and residents are allowed to go out for necessary needs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. but must adhere to precautionary measures such as wearing a face mask and maintaining social distancing practices.

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Agencies
February 27,2020

Riyadh, Feb 27: Saudi Arabia on Thursday halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears about a new viral epidemic just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, a move coming as the Mideast has over 220 confirmed cases of the illness.

The extraordinary decision by Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure the world's 1.8 billion Muslims pray toward five times a day. It also said travel was suspended to Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina.

The decision showed the worry about the outbreak potentially spreading into Saudi Arabia, whose oil-rich monarchy stakes its legitimacy on protecting Islam's holy sites. The epicenter in the Mideast's most-affected country, Iran, appears to be in the holy Shiite city of Qom, where a shrine there sees the faithful reach out to kiss and touch it in reverence.

"Saudi Arabia renews its support for all international measures to limit the spread of this virus, and urges its citizens to exercise caution before traveling to countries experiencing coronavirus outbreaks," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement announcing the decision.

"We ask God Almighty to spare all humanity from all harm." Disease outbreaks always have been a concern surrounding the hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, especially as pilgrims come from all over the world.

The earliest recorded outbreak came in 632 as pilgrims fought off malaria. A cholera outbreak in 1821, for instance, killed an estimated 20,000 pilgrims. Another cholera outbreak in 1865 killed 15,000 pilgrims and then spread worldwide.

More recently, Saudi Arabia faced a danger from a related coronavirus that caused Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. The kingdom increased its public health measures in 2012 and 2013, though no outbreak occurred.

While millions attend the 10-day hajj, this year set for late July into early August, millions more come during the rest of the year to the holy sites in the kingdom.

"It is unprecedented, at least in recent times, but given the worldwide spread of the virus and the global nature of the umrah, it makes sense from a public health and safety point of view," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. "Especially since the Iranian example illustrates how a religious crossroads can so quickly amplify the spread and reach of the virus." The virus that causes the illness named COVID-19 has infected more than 80,000 people globally, mainly in China. The hardest-hit nation in the Mideast is Iran, where Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 19 people have died among 139 confirmed cases.

Experts are concerned Iran may be underreporting cases and deaths, given the illness's rapid spread from Iran across the Persian Gulf. For example, Iran still has not confirmed any cases in Mashhad, even though a number of cases reported in Kuwait are linked to the Iranian city.

In Bahrain, which confirmed 33 cases as of Thursday morning, authorities halted all flights to Iraq and Lebanon. It separately extended a 48-hour ban overflights from Dubai and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, through which infected travellers reached the island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said there were no immediate plans to quarantine cities but acknowledged it may take "one, two or three weeks” to get control of the virus in Iran.

As Iran's 80 million people find themselves increasingly isolated in the region by the outbreak, the country's sanctions-battered economy saw its currency slump to its lowest level against the US dollar in a year on Wednesday.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Abu Dhabi, May 25: Dusty weather to persist in the UAE on Monday as well with a chance of rainfall in parts of the country, the national Met department reported.

According to the NCM, the weather today will be fair to partly cloudy, with a chance of some convective clouds formation by afternoon - eastward and northward - extending to some internal areas that may be associated with some rainfall.

The weather will get humid by night and Tuesday morning over some coastal areas.

NCM predicts a wet Eid break.

Sharjah Police issued a weather warning as heavy rain flooded roads in Sharjah's Kalba among other areas.

Moderate to fresh winds will gain strength during the day causing blowing dust and sand.

The sea will be slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

Earlier on Sunday, a weather alert was issued by authorities as moderate to heavy rain - accompanied with hail - lashed parts of the UAE. A rainbow in Dubai skies cheered up residents, celebrating a unique Eid this year amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic - by mostly staying home.

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