Saudi Trying To Stop Eritrean Weapon
Smuggling To Yemen
18 November, 2009 | By Adam Gonn
Naval forces were stationed November 12 near the northern Yemeni coast
in support of the Yemeni government’s attempts to put down the
insurrection.
The Saudi navy extended its blockade to prevent a second smuggling
route across the Red Sea from Yemen’s western neighbor Eritrea.
Horn of Africa Project Director with the International Crisis Group, EJ
Hogendoorn, told The Media Line, the blockade did not come as a
surprise “given Eritrea and Yemen’s strained relationship.”
Hogendoorn said the weapons are smuggled from Yemen to Somalia by
dow, a small open sailing boat, and this is probably the method used by
Eritrea as well.
While the conflict between the insurgents and Yemeni government has
been ongoing for over a decade, the latest round of fighting follows a
government launched offensive earlier in August, codenamed Scorched
Earth.
Numerous rebels fleeing north across the border prompted a massive
Saudi air and ground offensive, in an attempt to drive the Al-Houthis back
into Yemen.
The Al Houthis have accused the Yemeni government of being too closely
allied with Washington.
The official Yemeni news agency SABA alleges Yemen has signed a
military and security cooperation agreement with the U.S., a report denied
by the American Embassy in Sanaa.
“The talks were frank and productive and point toward continued U.S.
assistance to the government of Yemen in its efforts to eliminate the
threats to its population posed by al-Qaeda, piracy, and human
trafficking,” read the statement. “At the conclusion of the talks and in
accordance with standard protocol, the U.S. and Yemeni parties signed
the minutes of the talks. Meeting minutes do not constitute an agreement.”
Yemen and Eritrea clashed several times during the 1990s over control of
the Hanish Islands located midway between the two countries, in the Red
Sea north of the Bab Al Mandeb straight.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration handed the Islands over to Yemen in
1998.
Courtesy
Smuggling To Yemen
18 November, 2009 | By Adam Gonn
- Saudi Arabian naval blockade on the
Yemeni coast is aiming to halt Eritrean
weapon smuggling from reaching
rebels.
Saudi Arabia is trying to stop weapons
reaching Al-Houthi rebels in Northern
Yemen by imposing a naval blockade
at both its eastern and western shores.
Naval forces were stationed November 12 near the northern Yemeni coast
in support of the Yemeni government’s attempts to put down the
insurrection.
The Saudi navy extended its blockade to prevent a second smuggling
route across the Red Sea from Yemen’s western neighbor Eritrea.
Horn of Africa Project Director with the International Crisis Group, EJ
Hogendoorn, told The Media Line, the blockade did not come as a
surprise “given Eritrea and Yemen’s strained relationship.”
Hogendoorn said the weapons are smuggled from Yemen to Somalia by
dow, a small open sailing boat, and this is probably the method used by
Eritrea as well.
While the conflict between the insurgents and Yemeni government has
been ongoing for over a decade, the latest round of fighting follows a
government launched offensive earlier in August, codenamed Scorched
Earth.
Numerous rebels fleeing north across the border prompted a massive
Saudi air and ground offensive, in an attempt to drive the Al-Houthis back
into Yemen.
The Al Houthis have accused the Yemeni government of being too closely
allied with Washington.
The official Yemeni news agency SABA alleges Yemen has signed a
military and security cooperation agreement with the U.S., a report denied
by the American Embassy in Sanaa.
“The talks were frank and productive and point toward continued U.S.
assistance to the government of Yemen in its efforts to eliminate the
threats to its population posed by al-Qaeda, piracy, and human
trafficking,” read the statement. “At the conclusion of the talks and in
accordance with standard protocol, the U.S. and Yemeni parties signed
the minutes of the talks. Meeting minutes do not constitute an agreement.”
Yemen and Eritrea clashed several times during the 1990s over control of
the Hanish Islands located midway between the two countries, in the Red
Sea north of the Bab Al Mandeb straight.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration handed the Islands over to Yemen in
1998.
Courtesy
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