SANA'A, Oct. 8 - Yemen's efforts in combating piracy in the Red Sea has seen President Abdullah Saleh pay visits to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan over the past couple of weeks to discuss pervasive piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden.
President Saleh's visits to Jordan and Egypt from 1 to 4 October at the head of a high-ranking delegation highlighted Yemen's growing fears over a U.S.-European plan of internationalizing the Red Sea, according to a number of informed Arab and Yemeni sources.
Discussions between Yemeni President and both King Abdullah the Second of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reportedly focused on Yemeni worries of an increase in foreign military presence in the sea's southern outlet and the dangers it might imply.
Yemen feels that this is a premise for a project for internationalizing Red Sea waters proposed by Israel years ago but which faced strong Arab rejection.
During his visits, Saleh introduced a Yemeni plan to counter this eventuality to the Jordanian and the Egyptian leaders. The plan had already been discussed with King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz during the Yemeni president's recent visit to Saudi Arabia.
Yemeni aims to coordinate the efforts of countries bordering the Red Sea to face possible foreign intervention to internationalize the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab strait, under the pretext of piracy within its waters.
The countries that overlook the Red Sea are Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel.
Last month, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdullah Al-Kurbi stressed the significance of coordinating efforts to counter increasing piracy in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to guarantee the safety of international navigation in the area.
Speaking to the Yemen Times, Professor of Political Sciences in Sana'a University Abdullah al-Faqih said piracy was a Yemeni issue limited to the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden which should in no way involve the internationalization of the Red Sea.
"Yemen has completely failed to face marine piracy in its waters because of its lack of marine forces and the vast area of the Gulf of Aden," said al-Faqih, adding that Yemen has linked piracy with issue of internationalizing the Red Sea to get Arab support.
Professor al-Faqih said that Yemeni marine forces were overwhelmed by piracy in their waters and were in need of modern boats and equipment to overcoming the issue.
Al-Faqih said that there might be foreign support to these pirates, but that he could not yet confirm such a statement.
He confirmed Yemeni fears of the permanent presence of international forces in the area to protect ships.
Maritime officials have said the recent surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden is unprecedented, with more than 50 ships and 250 seamen seized this year alone.
Currently, Somali pirates hold in their custody 13 vessels with more than 200 sailors on board, including a Ukrainian vessel loaded with 13 tanks, which makes the waters one of the most dangerous maritime passages in the world.
Last September, UN Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said Somali pirates continued to pose a serious threat to free maritime trade, free navigation and international security.
International forces sent to the Red Sea
Yemen's fears coincide with European countries' announcement for their readiness to send forces to the region.
A Russian warship was sent to Somalia to attempt to retrieve the Ukrainian ship seized by Somali pirates since a week.
India and Malaysia have also sent marine forces to the region to insure their trade ships' safe passage through the area.
Meanwhile, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan says his government is considering dispatching a Korean Navy vessel to the waters of Somalia.
Importance of the Red Sea
The Red Sea is increasingly important as a passage for trade between countries.
According to statistics, 325 million ton of goods and 10 percent of international marine shipments pass through the Red Sea annually.
The number of oil tankers passing through the Suez Canal each year has risen to 21,000 tankers. Oil transport through the oil pipelines in the Red Sea has also augmented.