CAIRO, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned on Monday the sabotage attack on four commercial vessels in the waters off the UAE coast.
Aboul Gheit said that "these criminal acts represent a serious violation of the freedom and safety of trade and maritime transport routes, and would raise the level of escalation in the region."
He also said that these threats to the land or sea borders, or the transport and trade routes of any member state of the Arab League, represent "an unacceptable violation of Arab national security."
The secretary-general expressed his full solidarity with the UAE against any attempt to undermine the security and safety of its navigation.
Four commercial civilian trading vessels of various nationalities Sunday morning suffered acts of sabotage off the UAE's eastern coast, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The attack came amid rising tensions between Iran and the United States.
"The incidents in the Sea of Oman are alarming and regrettable," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in an English-language statement on the ministry's website, calling for a probe into the attacks and warning of "adventurism" by foreign players to disrupt maritime security.
