Middle East unrest makes perfect fodder for more piracy: Analysts

Failed state conditions which spawned piracy in Somalia are present in the "Arab Spring" disorders sweeping the Middle East, and will likely create a breeding ground for more pirates, particularly in Yemen, say Israeli defence analysts.

"While instability in Yemen would not lead inevitably to increased piracy, it is a distinct possibility, says a paper by the Institute for National Security Studies ( INSS) at Tel Aviv University.

"Egyptian authorities arrested 26 people for planning to attack ships in the Suez Canal and oil pipelines in 2009," said INSS researchers Yoel Guzansky, Jonathan Schachter and Gallia Lindenstrauss.

Piracy, terrorism, and the growing threat from Iranian weapons smuggling and naval muscle flexing around the Horn of Africa are compounding problems for international shipping, said the paper. "Iran is taking advantage of piracy to justify its increasing naval presence in the Red Sea vicinity," they said.

"These Iranian efforts to project power have turned the waters around the Horn of Africa into another area of maritime friction. The result is that other navies operating in the area are now combating both piracy and Iranian weapons smuggling," said the paper.

"Tactical measures have reduced - that is, displaced - the number of pirate attacks in the Red Sea in recent years. But Yemen has been racked by sectarian and tribal violence, and in the last two years, it has become the home of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.