Arab states plan anti-piracy force.Byline: Arab News RIYADH: Arab states of the Gulf and Red Sea said yesterday that they are planning a joint anti-piracy force, insisting defense of the crucial Red Sea waterway was the "primary responsibility" of littoral littoral /lit·to·ral/ (lit´ah-r'l) pertaining to the shore of a large body of water. littoral pertaining to the shore. states. Saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of piracy to the Red Sea or the Gulf, 11 regional states agreed to set up an all-Arab Navy Task Force, to be led at the outset by the Saudis, the official Saudi Press Agency The Saudi press agency (SPA) was established in 1971 as the first national news agency. The main goal of its establishment was to serve as a central body to collect and distribute local and international news in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and abroad. reported. The delegates to the conference in the Saudi capital stressed the "importance of the exclusion of the Red Sea from any international arrangements, especially the fight against sea piracy." Royal Saudi Navy This article is about the Royal Saudi Navy. For other Royal Navies, see Royal Navy (disambiguation). The Saudi Navy is the Naval force of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Navy has about 12,000 officers and men, including 1200 Marines. commander Lieutenant General Prince Fahd bin Abdullah told journalists: "This subject is now under negotiation and we are hoping to reach an agreement to form this force." Joining the talks were representatives from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia (sä  `dē ərā`bēə, sou`–, sô–), officially Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, kingdom (2005 est. pop. , Sudan, the United Arab
Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. and Yemen.
Prince Fahd said part of the effort would be to design ways of cooperating with the flotillas from some 20 foreign countries now patrolling sealanes in the Gulf of Aden Noun 1. Gulf of Aden - arm of the Indian Ocean at the entrance to the Red Sea Indian Ocean - the 3rd largest ocean; bounded by Africa on the west, Asia on the north, Australia on the east and merging with the Antarctic Ocean to the south and off the Horn of Africa Horn of Africa, peninsula, NE Africa, opposite the S Arabia Peninsula. Also known as the Somali Peninsula, it encompasses Somalia and E Ethiopia and is the easternmost extension of the continent, separating the Gulf of Aden from the Indian Ocean. to stop pirate attacks. "One of the objectives of the meeting is to discuss joint Arab coordination with multinational forces operating in the region to combat piracy and to agree on the mechanisms of the Arab contribution" to these efforts, he said. He said that the Gulf states were involved in the proposed task force because of the danger posed to their shipping, particularly vital oil and gas exports which pass via the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. A joint statement said the Saudi navy would coordinate efforts by the other Arab naval commands on the Red Sea and Gulf for a period of one year and then review the results. Another meeting on the issue will be scheduled in two months, it said. More than 70 vessels, including a fully-laden Saudi oil supertanker su·per·tank·er n. A very large ship, usually between 100,000 and 400,000 displacement tons, used for transporting oil and other liquids in large quantities. , have been hijacked for ransom by Somali pirates in the past two years. Despite patrols by a raft of foreign navies, attacks are still frequently reported. Saudi Arabia has said in recent months that it has stepped up its high-seas patrols for pirates. The International Maritime Bureau The International Maritime Bureau is a specialised bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce. The IMB's responsibilities lie in fighting crimes related to maritime trade and transportation, particularly piracy and commercial fraud, and in protecting the crews of has reported a handful of attempted pirate attacks, none successful, at the southern end of the Red Sea this year, mostly in the strategically important Bab Al-Mandab strait linking to the Gulf of Aden. The bureau recorded no attacks in the Red Sea last year. But the Saudi push for an all-Arab naval task force could also be related to what diplomats say are Riyadh's growing worries over the security not only of Red Sea shipping but also of its essential infrastructure in the area, including oil facilities, power generation and desalinization plants. Copyright: Arab News 2009 All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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