CAIRO, Egypt - A senior Yemeni diplomat today called on Arab countries on the Red Sea to increase their cooperation to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa, which has escalated in recent days.

Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister Ali al-Ayashi’s comments come a day before Arab officials meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo to forge a strategy to fight pirate attacks, many of which have taken place in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen’s southern coast.