News Analysis: Vital for Egypt, Saudi to guard waterway security in region

Houthi militants are spreading into Yemen which raises concerns over the security of the Red Sea, and requires Saudi-Egyptian joint defense cooperation, according to observers.

The Houthis, Yemen's most powerful militia, emerged as the country's dominant faction by seizing Sanaa in September. They crept into Ibb and Dhamar and are en route to Al Baydaa province, and Taiz.

This means approaching control of a vital maritime corridor which controls access to the strategically-important Red Sea.

Seizing Yemen's western and southern provinces constitutes a potential threat for about eight percent of world trade passing through Bab al-Mandab through the Suez Canal.

This sets up a primary worry for the national security of both Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as economic revenues, said Samir Ghatas, chief of Maqdis Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

The Bab al-Mandab strait separates the Arabian Peninsula from east Africa and links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Most ships using the waterway have come, or are going to, Egypt's Suez Canal which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.

The Suez Canal contributes about 5 billion U.S. dollars a year to the Egyptian economy and is the most significant begetter of foreign currency into the country.

Additionally, the Bab al-Mandab strait is crucial to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries supplying much of the four percent of the global oil supply passing through the waterway.

Navigation security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab represents a matter of national security equally for Saudi, the the region's dominant oil exporter, as well as Egypt and its Canal revenues, according to Ghatas.

Furthermore, the politically complicated Yemeni situation is a "thorn in Saudi's side" because it shares a long border stretch with the country, the expert added.

Just as geography writes the history of countries, it likewise governs the direction and even internal Saudi issues. It is a country dominated mostly by Sunni Muslims who are against the spread of Shitte Houthis in neighboring chaotic Yemen, the expert explained.

"Joint Egyptian-Saudi coordination of defense is necessary currently in order to face the threat of the Houthi diffusion, which is supported by Iran in the hope of exerting influence in the Gulf areas and regaining the glory of Persian nationalism," he argued.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reiterated that the security of the Gulf "is a red line," referring to any Iranian threats.

Ties between Egypt and Saudi were brisk during the reign of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization, with Saudi worrying about its royal regime if the Islamists extend their experience into the kingdom.

However, the ties reached their healthiest levels after the ouster of Morsi in july 2013 with Saudi Arabia and UAE backing Egypt's economy with around 20 billion dollars in loans and grants.

According to Hossam Sowilam, a military expert, Egypt and Saudi have a long history of cooperation since signing a Joint Arab Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty in 1950, and their military cooperation is about to develop further now.

Yemen is the weak national security for Saudi with their joint wide borders which enable easy smuggling of weapons and extremism proliferation.

Meanwhile, Sowilam thinks Egypt can cooperate with Saudi at the logistics, training and strategic levels, but would not send ground forces into the Saudi borders unless Houthis gain control of Bab al-Mandab strait.

Saudi so far doesn't need direct Egyptian forces on its lands to face Houthis, added the expert, noting that Saudi has a very strong army, with experience in desert and mountainous regions.

Currently there exist military and maritime maneuvers between the two countries and Egyptians are ready to enter with troops to handle any threat against Bab al-Mandab, he added.

However, Mohamed Megahed, another military expert in Al Ahram Center for Political and Security Studies, ruled out the possibility of a Houthi takeover of Bab al-Mandab.

"There are international US, French, British and Canadian maritime forces along with other countries positioned in the region to protect Bab al-Mandab, because it is an international navigation and waterway passage connecting east and west, and any closure will hinder international navigation and negatively affect global trade," Megahed explained.

He echoed what Sowilam said regarding cooperation between the two countries doubting however that Egypt could take an independent decision without international concurrence.

Egypt might interfere if the Houthis threaten the strait at the southern gateway of the Red Sea, but "under an international umbrella which combats threats against international navigation," Megahed added. Enditem