DUBAI • Mysterious goings-on allegedly involving the forcible detention of a Qatari royal and intercepted Bahrain-bound planes have escalated the feud straining ties among Gulf Arab monarchies.

Two commercial jets were intercepted on their regular flight paths to Bahrain’s capital, Manama, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) official news agency WAM reported on Monday. No such thing ever happened, Qatar said.

A day earlier, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Thani, a descendant of Qatar’s founder, accused the UAE of holding him against his will. Not true, the UAE said. It also denied Qatar’s allegation last week that a UAE war jet violated its airspace in December.

The cascade of allegations and denials is raising concerns that the conflict between Qatar and a group of four Arab nations is heating up again after a period of relative calm. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic, trade and transport links with gas-rich Qatar in June, accusing it of destabilising the region by supporting terrorism, a charge it denies. US and Kuwaiti attempts to mediate have failed to break the deadlock.

With neither side in the Gulf dispute “interested in a compromise” this kind of development is worrisome, said Hani Sabra, founder of New York-based Alef Advisory. “The hard-line positions of the parties means the chance of accidents is always present.”

Interception Claim

The UAE’s claim of intercepted passenger planes is “completely untrue”, Sheikh Saif Ahmed Al Thani, head of

the Qatari government communications office, said on Twitter. Bahrain, one of the countries boycotting Qatar, said Emirates Flight EK837 was intercepted. That plane left Dubai almost an hour later than scheduled, and arrived in Manama 32 minutes later, according to the Emirates website, just 12 minutes longer than its scheduled journey time of 20 minutes.

FlightRadar24, which tracks plane movements, said it couldn’t confirm if the incident took place. The data relating to the Emirates flight didn’t show deviation from the standard route, it said.

Qatar accused the UAE of trying “to draw attention away from other incidents that have caused media crises” for the UAE in the past two days, the government communications office said in a statement late on Monday. Qatar said it intends to take legal action against the alleged airspace breaches.

Shares Drop

Qatar’s benchmark stocks index reversed gains after the first reported interception, dropping 2.5% at the close in Doha, the biggest fall since the dispute broke out in June. Dubai stocks also extended losses. Yesterday morning, Qatar stocks were up and Dubai stocks were unchanged.

“The UAE will seek to pre- serve its relationship with the US defence and security establishment, and will therefore probably not opt for an immediate escalation,” said Ayham Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group. But while a military confrontation in the Gulf crisis “is very unlikely, it’s far from inconceivable”, he said. — Bloomberg