Reports that al-Qaida-trained operatives may be poised to attack American commercial and passenger vessels in the Arabian Sea are being widely circulated in Arab-speaking Gulf states, including Kuwait,Bahrain,Qatar, and United Arab Emirates.

VOA: standard.2010.01.07

Sunni extremist groups, some funded by supporters in the Arabian Gulf states, are actively killing Shias in Quetta, who largely belong to the Hazara ethnic group.

BBC: Why we should worry about Balochistan

Before the ouster last year of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt sided with Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Sunni-dominated Arabian Gulf States toward the isolation of Shiite-led Iran.

CNN: Egyptian president to visit Iran

"A more general approach has focused on Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), a coalition naval task force covering the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, " the report states.

CNN: Somali piracy threatens trade, boosts terrorists, analysts say