Naval Battle between Saudi and U.A.E.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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Naval Battle between Saudi and U.A.E.
Naval battle between UAE and Saudi Arabia raises fears for Gulf security
A naval clash in the Gulf has reignited fears over the security of the world's most important shipping lanes and disputed oilfields.
The United Arab Emirates navy is thought to have opened fire on a small patrol vessel from Saudi Arabia after a dispute over water boundaries. According to one report, two Saudi sailors were injured in the alleged bombardment. The Saudi vessel was forced to surrender, and its sailors were delivered into custody in Abu Dhabi for several days, before being released and handed over to the Saudi embassy earlier this week.
The incident has shocked diplomats who hope the countries, both key American allies, will help implement the West's strategy to constrain Iran's nuclear and military ambitions.
The clash happened in disputed waters between the coasts of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and the peninsula on which the gas-rich state of Qatar sits. The seabed is rich with oil deposits, while the Dolphin pipeline project to carry natural gas direct from Qatar to Abu Dhabi has provoked irritation in the Saudi authorities. Nevertheless, direct conflict between the two countries' armed forces is highly unusual.
The Gulf is one of the most heavily armed regions in the world. The Saudi government has been building up its army and air force for years in response to what it sees as a regional threat from Iran. The UAE was slower to join the arms race, despite a long-running row with Iran over three Gulf islands previously under Abu Dhabi control which were seized by the late Shah in 1971 on the night the Emirates celebrated their independence. But now the UAE, despite its small size, is the fourth largest purchaser of weaponry on the international market in the world.
Western governments are exasperated that the two countries are unable to co-operate because of a series of long-running border disputes, largely influenced by oil reserves. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil producer, while Abu Dhabi, though ranking only number four in OPEC, is by some counts the richest city per head of population in the world.
"It looks as though attempts were made to keep this quiet, which is predictable given the important relationship between the two countries and the strategic relationship with Iran," a Gulf-based diplomat said. "But it does remind us of the simmering rows that there are in this part of the Gulf."
The Gulf is the shipping route for 40 per cent of the world's oil trade. The lack of agreed naval boundaries leads to repeated arrests of civilian vessels, including a British yacht by the Iranian navy last November, but more serious is the threat of Iranian retaliation for any attack by Israel or American forces on its nuclear installations. The Iranian government has threatened to mine the Straits of Hormuz at the tip of the Gulf, or target the western navies moored in Gulf Arab ports.
"This is getting serious," a local defence analyst said. "The Dolphin pipeline is a critical interstate energy project to bring gas from Qatar to the UAE, so a fight (with Saudi Arabia) is affecting the relations between these three countries at a time when they should be co-operating."
A spokesman for the UAE ministry of defence said he was unable to give details of the incident.
A naval clash in the Gulf has reignited fears over the security of the world's most important shipping lanes and disputed oilfields.
The United Arab Emirates navy is thought to have opened fire on a small patrol vessel from Saudi Arabia after a dispute over water boundaries. According to one report, two Saudi sailors were injured in the alleged bombardment. The Saudi vessel was forced to surrender, and its sailors were delivered into custody in Abu Dhabi for several days, before being released and handed over to the Saudi embassy earlier this week.
The incident has shocked diplomats who hope the countries, both key American allies, will help implement the West's strategy to constrain Iran's nuclear and military ambitions.
The clash happened in disputed waters between the coasts of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and the peninsula on which the gas-rich state of Qatar sits. The seabed is rich with oil deposits, while the Dolphin pipeline project to carry natural gas direct from Qatar to Abu Dhabi has provoked irritation in the Saudi authorities. Nevertheless, direct conflict between the two countries' armed forces is highly unusual.
The Gulf is one of the most heavily armed regions in the world. The Saudi government has been building up its army and air force for years in response to what it sees as a regional threat from Iran. The UAE was slower to join the arms race, despite a long-running row with Iran over three Gulf islands previously under Abu Dhabi control which were seized by the late Shah in 1971 on the night the Emirates celebrated their independence. But now the UAE, despite its small size, is the fourth largest purchaser of weaponry on the international market in the world.
Western governments are exasperated that the two countries are unable to co-operate because of a series of long-running border disputes, largely influenced by oil reserves. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil producer, while Abu Dhabi, though ranking only number four in OPEC, is by some counts the richest city per head of population in the world.
"It looks as though attempts were made to keep this quiet, which is predictable given the important relationship between the two countries and the strategic relationship with Iran," a Gulf-based diplomat said. "But it does remind us of the simmering rows that there are in this part of the Gulf."
The Gulf is the shipping route for 40 per cent of the world's oil trade. The lack of agreed naval boundaries leads to repeated arrests of civilian vessels, including a British yacht by the Iranian navy last November, but more serious is the threat of Iranian retaliation for any attack by Israel or American forces on its nuclear installations. The Iranian government has threatened to mine the Straits of Hormuz at the tip of the Gulf, or target the western navies moored in Gulf Arab ports.
"This is getting serious," a local defence analyst said. "The Dolphin pipeline is a critical interstate energy project to bring gas from Qatar to the UAE, so a fight (with Saudi Arabia) is affecting the relations between these three countries at a time when they should be co-operating."
A spokesman for the UAE ministry of defence said he was unable to give details of the incident.
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Even veiled racist language earns a 3 day site ban. Learn from it.
Leave them to it I say.
This will accelerate the search for alternative fuels and of course our dependency on these peoples' exports.
Leave them to it I say.
This will accelerate the search for alternative fuels and of course our dependency on these peoples' exports.
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ORAC, is this for real??? Definately no-duff??? 
Not good.. I sincerely hope it doesn't escalate. Thats the last thing we need, Gulf states starting to bite lumps out of each other.
Wessel, the larger part of me agrees that it would be far better off for the west to stay out of it and if it remains at this kind of level, thats probably what will happen. And yes, there should be a greater push for developments of alternative sources of energy anyway, but it shouldnt take the prospect of something like this or worse for that to be pursued. Mind you, thats not taking the um, "interests" of big business and the oil lobby into account though....
However, with due respect to our US er, allies, should it start to ratchet up, I wouldnt be surprised to see other hands getting involved.. and not just the US either.
Not good.. I sincerely hope it doesn't escalate. Thats the last thing we need, Gulf states starting to bite lumps out of each other.
Wessel, the larger part of me agrees that it would be far better off for the west to stay out of it and if it remains at this kind of level, thats probably what will happen. And yes, there should be a greater push for developments of alternative sources of energy anyway, but it shouldnt take the prospect of something like this or worse for that to be pursued. Mind you, thats not taking the um, "interests" of big business and the oil lobby into account though....
However, with due respect to our US er, allies, should it start to ratchet up, I wouldnt be surprised to see other hands getting involved.. and not just the US either.
Last edited by Jabba_TG12; 29th Mar 2010 at 07:27. Reason: spelling
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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Ain't not nobody saying nuthing. Shtumm.
UAE silent on Saudi naval battle report
DUBAI - Officials in the United Arab Emirates were silent Monday after a report that its navy had exchanged shots with a military vessel from Saudi Arabia in contested territorial waters in the Persian Gulf through which a natural gas pipeline runs.
A spokesman for the majority Abu Dhabi government-owned Dolphin Energy Ltd, which operates the pipeline, declined to comment on the report of the clash in the U.K.'s The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Sailors from Saudi Arabia were injured and taken into captivity in Abu Dhabi following the clash, the paper reported last week without saying where it got the information. The Saudi prisoners were later released to the kingdom's embassy in Abu Dhabi, the paper added.
Federal government officials in Abu Dhabi didn't respond to questions about the incident. An official at the Saudi embassy in Abu Dhabi declined to comment when called Monday.
Saudi Arabia has historically disputed the U.A.E.'s territorial claim to the stretch of Persian Gulf that separates the emirates from Qatar.
In 2006, the Saudi government objected in writing to banks that financed the $3.5 billion Dolphin gas pipeline project, which links Qatar with the U.A.E., claiming that the kingdom hadn't approved its route through waters it claims.
A copy of the letter sent in 2006 to National Bank of Abu Dhabi seen by Zawya Dow Jones states: "The kingdom will take all actions necessary to protect its sovereign rights and jurisdiction" to the area of Persian Gulf where the pipeline is located......
UAE silent on Saudi naval battle report
DUBAI - Officials in the United Arab Emirates were silent Monday after a report that its navy had exchanged shots with a military vessel from Saudi Arabia in contested territorial waters in the Persian Gulf through which a natural gas pipeline runs.
A spokesman for the majority Abu Dhabi government-owned Dolphin Energy Ltd, which operates the pipeline, declined to comment on the report of the clash in the U.K.'s The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Sailors from Saudi Arabia were injured and taken into captivity in Abu Dhabi following the clash, the paper reported last week without saying where it got the information. The Saudi prisoners were later released to the kingdom's embassy in Abu Dhabi, the paper added.
Federal government officials in Abu Dhabi didn't respond to questions about the incident. An official at the Saudi embassy in Abu Dhabi declined to comment when called Monday.
Saudi Arabia has historically disputed the U.A.E.'s territorial claim to the stretch of Persian Gulf that separates the emirates from Qatar.
In 2006, the Saudi government objected in writing to banks that financed the $3.5 billion Dolphin gas pipeline project, which links Qatar with the U.A.E., claiming that the kingdom hadn't approved its route through waters it claims.
A copy of the letter sent in 2006 to National Bank of Abu Dhabi seen by Zawya Dow Jones states: "The kingdom will take all actions necessary to protect its sovereign rights and jurisdiction" to the area of Persian Gulf where the pipeline is located......
