UAE omits Qatar from world map amid airspace row

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has omitted the tiny peninsular Arab Gulf state of Qatar from a world map exhibited at a recently opened museum in Abu Dhabi, according to a veteran observer of Gulf affairs.

In an analysis piece written earlier this week entitled “The UAE/Qatar rivalry is escalating”, the Washington Institute’s Simon Henderson noted that a large map of the world featured at the museum “completely omits” the nation of Qatar.

“In the children's section of Abu Dhabi's new flagship Louvre Museum, a map of the southern Gulf completely omits the Qatari peninsula -- a geographical deletion that is probably incompatible with France's agreement to let Abu Dhabi use the Louvre's name,” Henderson wrote.

Last year, the UAE paid France’s iconic Louvre Museum a whopping $520 million for the use of its name in its own Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, which finally opened its doors last November after a five-year delay.

The “geographical omission” noted by Henderson comes amid mounting tension between the two oil-rich Gulf states.

Last week, Qatar formally accused the UAE of having flown military aircraft over its territory last month in what it described as a violation of its sovereign airspace -- a claim denied by Abu Dhabi.

This week, the UAE responded in kind, alleging that Qatari jet fighters had “intercepted” two Emirati civilian aircraft as they flew towards Bahrain, drawing similar denials from Doha.

For the last seven months, the two countries have been on opposite sides of an unprecedented crisis in inter-Arab relations.

Last summer, the UAE -- along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain -- abruptly severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups in the region.

Qatar, for its part, vehemently denies the allegations, describing attempts to isolate it by its fellow Arab states as a violation of international law.