DOHA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Qatar accused Bahrain on Tuesday of abusing a fisheries case to deepen the diplomatic crisis between the emirate and its Gulf states, the official QNA news agency reported.
Qatar condemned the statement issued by the Bahraini Interior Ministry on the detention of 15 Bahraini boats carrying 20 sailors, QNA said.
An interior ministry official said the 15 Bahraini fishing boats, seized by the Qatari coastguard, had been operating illegally in the emirate's waters and had been held under routine procedures.
The 20 fishermen on board would be released within the next three days while the courts would decide what happened to the boats.
The official told QNA the Coast and Borders Security Department had repeatedly warned the fishermen not to operate in Qatari waters and not to use harmful fishing practices.
Qatar had a longstanding territorial dispute with Bahrain over the waters and small islands that separate the peninsula from the main islands of its maritime neighbour which was only resolved by the International Court of Justice in 2001.
