DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The United Arab Emirates has released a Qatari naval vessel and four sailors who were held for nearly a week amid an ongoing boycott of Doha by the federation and three other Arab nations.
The UAE’s Foreign Ministry identified the four sailors by name and rank in a statement Monday. It said the vessel, flying the Qatari flag, “entered UAE territorial waters” on April 30.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged the incident in its own statement, saying “the boat was carrying out routine drills in the Qatari territorial waters and was subjected to technical faults in the UAE’s territorial waters.”
The incident is just the latest in a series of confrontations between Qatar and the UAE, which with Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia has boycotted Doha over a political dispute since June 2017.
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