Twin threats: Piracy and al Qaeda
ADEN, YEMEN — On a rocky volcanic outcrop set in the deep and treacherous waters of a vital strait linking Europe to Asia, Yemens coastguard is building a base to help secure one of the worlds busiest waterways.
Somali pirates trawl the sea south of the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemens coast, and in recent months have stepped up attacks on tankers, cargo ships, and fishing vessels in defiance of a major crackdown by navies from at least a dozen countries.
But Yemen has deeper worries about security off its coast after a resurgent al Qaeda arm called for a blockade of the strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, through which 25,000 ships — 7% of world shipping — pass each year.
“The geographical nature of Bab al-Mandab, of the coast and the land, its beaches and islands, makes it very sensitive security-wise,” Mohamed Mubarak bin Aefan, head of Aden port management, told Reuters.
Militants would struggle to block the strategic strait, experts say, but the shipping industry is still worried about possible attacks off Yemens southwest coast. A Yemeni official said France was helping it build the base with the hope it would have a dual use in combating both piracy and al Qaeda.
Yemen has seen its ports and waters targeted before.
The US government warned ships sailing off Yemens coast in March of a risk of al Qaeda attacks similar to a suicide bombing of the US warship Cole in 2000 that killed 17 US sailors in Adens port. Two years later, al Qaeda hit a French supertanker in the Gulf of Aden, south of Bab al-Mandab.
Worries over the strait, through which around 3 million barrels of oil bound for Europe and the United States are shipped daily, were further stirred when Yemen boosted security on its coast against possible militant attacks.
Yemen became a top Western security concern after a resurgent Yemeni al Qaeda arm claimed a failed bomb attack on a US-bound plane in December, so alarming Washington that it has cranked up security assistance to the impoverished country.
In another bold attack in June that Yemen blamed on al Qaeda, gunmen killed 11 people at the southern regional headquarters of a Yemeni intelligence agency in Aden, the deadliest attack in Yemen since the Cole bombing.
But the groups call earlier this year for a blockade of Bab al-Mandab to cut off US shipments to Israel does not mean al Qaeda is capable of such an operation, said Jim Cameron, senior analyst at Stirling Assynt.
“Its certainly a real threat although I think its probably more an aspiration rather than a capability at the moment.”In addition, it would not be easy to completely close off the 22-km strait, experts say.
“The strait is wide and the currents are strong and complex, so it would be difficult to actually block it in a physical sense,” said Roy Facey, port adviser to the Port of Aden.
While Yemens Western allies and neighboring oil exporter Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability on several fronts in Yemen for attacks in the region and beyond, piracy is the most burning concern for the shipping industry.
Somali pirates are making millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing ships, including tankers and dry bulkers, in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Source:bworldonline