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Egypt voices concern over Red Sea security after attack on ships

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CAIRO: Egypt’s president said Cairo was deeply concerned about security in the Red Sea following an attack by Yemen’s Ansar Allah fighters on two oil tankers that forced Saudi Arabia to suspend crude shipments temporarily through the strait of Bab al Mandab.


Speaking at a joint press conference with his Yemeni counterpart, President Abdel Fattah al Sisi also said Cairo was committed to helping Yemen regain its security after more than three years of war that has killed thousands of people.


“We categorically reject that Yemen would become a foothold for the influence of non-Arab forces, or a platform for security and stability threats against the brotherly Arab countries or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al Mandab Strait,” Sisi said, speaking alongside President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.


Last month, Saudi Arabia temporarily halted oil shipments through Bab al Mandab citing security concerns after Ansar Allah attacked two oil tankers in the Red Sea near the strait with missiles, damaging one vessel.


Although Saudi resumed oil shipments through the strait several days later, the incident has highlighted the volatility of the situation in the area, where fighting has been raging since 2015.


Yemen lies along the southern end of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers. The tankers pass near Yemen’s shores while heading from the Middle East through the Suez Canal to Europe.


Speaking after talks with Hadi in Cairo, Sisi said Egypt supported the internationally-recognised Yemeni government and was committed to helping it restore stability to the country.


Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, is a member of the Saudi-led coalition which intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to try to restore Hadi to power. But its role has been mainly to patrol Bab al Mandab with naval vessels.


Hadi said he had briefed Sisi on the situation in the country.


“We discussed the dangers that the Red Sea had been exposed to,”


Hadi said. — Reuters


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