The reported hijacking of a UAE cargo ship off the coast of Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi militia drew widespread condemnation across the region on Monday.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition said the ship was seized shortly before midnight on Sunday near the port city of Hodeidah. Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said the ship, the Rawabi, was on a naval mission from the Yemeni island of Socotra to the Saudi port of Jazan, carrying equipment that had been used for a Saudi field hospital on the island.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned the hijacking, describing the attack as a criminal act that obstructs the freedom of maritime and commercial navigation, as guaranteed by international laws and treaties, and could disrupt humanitarian aid and other relief efforts to help the Yemeni people.