Riyadh Refuses to Allow Israeli Planes to Transport Flydubai Passengers from Tabuk
Agencies2 min read
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia rejected Israeli requests to send planes to transport passengers of the Emirati Flydubai flight that was heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, as a Saudi source familiar with the matter informed Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
The source, who preferred not to be named, said that the Israelis "requested to send military planes, two or three directly to Tabuk Airport", and "the request was rejected". He continued, "They requested to send a commercial plane belonging to (El Al) company. Their request was also rejected".
The source explained that the message was conveyed through the UAE, and it was not direct communication between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The flight heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv, with most of its passengers being Israelis, was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after one of the pilots attempted to shoot it down, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Saudi source said that the Kingdom fulfilled its "international obligations" and provided assistance to the passengers after the flight made an emergency landing, affirming that the nationalities of the passengers had no impact on the decision.
The source added, "We would have acted the same way, regardless of the nationalities of Flydubai passengers".
