Excerpts: Cairo's ties with Riyadh 'good and solid'. 3rd attack on US
vessels off Yemen October 16, 2016

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya 16 Oct.’16:”Egypt’s PM: Cairo’s ties with Riyadh ‘good
and solid’,by Staff Writer
SUBJECT:Cairo’s ties with Riyadh ‘good and solid’

QUOTE:”Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said relationship with Saudi
Arabia is ‘good and solid’ after diplomatic tensions arose recently between
the two countries.

FULL TEXT:Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said relationship with Saudi
Arabia is “good and solid” after diplomatic tensions arose recently between
the two countries, Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Friday[14 Oct].

Ismail made his statement to Al-Ahram after signs of tension surfaced
between Egypt and Saudi Arabia over Cairo’s votes on two rival UN Security
Council resolutions on Syria last week. Cairo vetoed a Security Council
resolution in favor of a decision espoused by Russia, which holds an
opposite stance to that of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states on Syria.

Following the Security Council incident, the Saudi ambassador left Egypt for
a three-day visit to the kingdom while Saudi oil company Aramco did not
deliver the monthly shipments of refined petroleum products to Cairo for
October.

However, Ismail said deliberations and exchange of points of view between
the two countries is “normal and supports the two countries’ relationship.”

He also said that Aramco had “a number of technical issues regarding its
monthly oil shipment, which was discussed with the Egyptian oil ministry.”
He added that these issues will not affect oil deals with Aramco.

Since the toppling of President Mohammed Mursi in July 2013, Saudi Arabia
was a big supporter of Egypt’s new government. Saudi funded Egypt with
billions of dollars in aid, oil products and cash deposits.


+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya 15 Oct.’16:”Third attack on US vessels off Yemen in a
week”,by Staff Writer with Reuters
SUBJECT:3rd attack on US vessels off Yemen

QUOTE:”A top US admiral says a US warship has come under fire in the Red Sea
from multiple cruise missiles fired off the coast of Yemen.”

FULL TEXT:A top US admiral says a US warship has for the third time in a
week, come under fire in the Red Sea from multiple cruise missiles fired off
the coast of Yemen.

The website Military.com quoted Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John
Richardson as saying that the guided missile destroyer USS Mason has
deployed electronic countermeasures to foil the attack and was not hit in
Saturday’s[15 Oct] incident --the third such attack on US naval vessels in
the area in the past week.

The incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab
Emirates and the Oct. 12 failed strike on a US Navy destroyer, add to
questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab
al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

The Houthi militia appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct
the missile attack on the warship. The United States is also investigating
the possibility that a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might
have also “painted” the USS Mason, something that would have helped the
Houthi militants pass along coordinates for a strike, the officials have
said.

The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi’s predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, have
the support of many army units and control most of the north including the
capital Sanaa.

On Thursday[13 Oct], Iran deployed two warships to the Red Sea, but insisted
the move was aimed at preventing piracy in the vital shipping lanes.
=============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA