Riyadh: Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that it was resuming oil shipments through the Bab al Mandab Strait, ending a 10-day suspension triggered by attacks off the coast of Yemen. The decision came after measures by a Saudi-led military coalition to “ensure the security of navigation in this strait and in the Red Sea”, said Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khaled al Falih, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency. Measures had been taken “in coordination with the international community”, Falih added, without providing further details.
Bab al Mandab is a crucial shipping lane between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
On July 26, Saudi Arabia said it was temporarily suspending oil shipments through Bab al Mandab after two oil tankers operated by Saudi shipping group Bahri were attacked, slightly damaging one vessel.
The Al Masirah television said at the time that the Ansar Allah had targeted a Saudi warship named Al Dammam, without providing further details. About 4.8 million barrels of oil and petroleum products pass through the strait every day, according to US government figures.
Meanwhile, a member of the political wing of Yemen’s Ansar Allah said on Saturday they were willing to attend UN-brokered talks, although they had low expectations of a positive outcome.
Salim Meghles said the Ansar Allah political wing is “not opposed to such consultations” which are aimed at “reaching a general framework for negotiations”.
“We are not opposed to travelling to any neutral country to take part in such consultations,” he said.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, on Thursday told the Security Council that the United Nations will invite Yemen’s warring sides for talks in Geneva on September 6 to discuss a framework for peace negotiations.
Meghles cast doubt over the expected meeting.
A government official on Friday said the government was ready to attend the Geneva talks. The war in the country has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. UN-brokered political talks on Yemen broke down in 2016 amid demands for a withdrawal of Ansar Allah from key cities and power-sharing with the government. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
