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Egyptian court quashes deal to transfer Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia Egyptian court quashes deal to transfer Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia
(about 3 hours later)
An Egyptian court has declared void a maritime border accord with Saudi Arabia that would have seen Egypt lose control of two Red Sea islands, judicial sources said. In a rare display of rebellion against the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, a Cairo court voted to annul his decision to transfer sovereignty of two islands to Saudi Arabia.
The state has the right to appeal against the ruling at a higher court, and the accord must also be approved by parliament. Judge Yehia el-Dakroury declared that Egypt’s maritime border would not be redrawn, meaning that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir would remain under Egyptian sovereignty.
Sisi previously awarded the two islands to Saudi Arabia in a highly controversial deal during a visit to Egypt by King Salman, which also coincided with the signing of oil deals and development packages from the Gulf kingdom.
The deal was designed to coincide with a bridge joining Saudi Arabia to the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Tuesday’s decision was met with cheers inside the courtroom and celebration on the steps of the courthouse, even as Egypt’s government declared its intention to appeal against the decision within hours of the verdict.
Related: Egypt's president under fire over Red Sea islands transfer to Saudi ArabiaRelated: Egypt's president under fire over Red Sea islands transfer to Saudi Arabia
The agreement, which was announced in April during a visit to Cairo by the Saudi king, had caused uproar and protests in Egypt where many say they were taught at school that the Tiran and Sanafir islands were Egyptian. “Today’s verdict will be implemented, and the appeal will not stop its implementation,” said lawyer Ali Ayoub, who brought the lawsuit against the Egyptian government, along with rights lawyer Khaled Ali.
The ruling is a setback for Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who had asked Egyptians in a speech to end the controversy over the islands deal. “The verdict nullifies the prime minister’s signature on the agreement – which means that Tiran and Sanafir are under Egyptian sovereignty.”
Tiran and Sanafir lie between Saudi Arabia and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, at the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba leading to Jordan and Israel. Saudi and Egyptian officials say they belong to Saudi Arabia and were only under Egyptian control because the kingdom asked Egypt to protect them in 1950. “This verdict proves the widely acknowledged principle of legitimacy,” he added, referring to the independence of Egypt’s judiciary. “[This] entails general respect for the rule of law and the constitution.”
Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf Arab states showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid after Sisi toppled Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, following mass protests against his rule. The decision to declare Tiran and Sanafir as Saudi Arabian quickly proved to be a raw nerve for Sisi’s leadership and popularity rating. In a speech in the days after the deal, the embattled president pleaded with the Egyptian public to stop discussing the issue.
But a sharp drop in oil prices and differences over foreign policy issues such as the war in Yemen have raised questions over whether strong Gulf Arab support can be sustained. “Egyptians are currently suffering from a state of collective suicide, due to fourth generation warfare which targets the loss of Egyptians’ confidence in their state institutions,” he said.
Egyptians are eager for an economic revival after years of political upheaval. But the islands issue hurt national pride, prompting thousands of protesters to take to the streets calling for the “fall of the regime”, a slogan associated with the 2011 Arab spring uprisings. He added that the deal had taken place entirely in secret, lest “the rise of disputes fabricated through the media create a divide between the two countries”.
More than 200 people were arrested in connection with protests over the islands. Many have since been freed. Cairo has controlled the two islands since a transfer of power by Saudi Arabia in 1950, amid fears of confrontation with neighbouring Israel. Egypt’s blockade of the Strait of Tiran in 1967 is considered one of the main triggers of the six-day war.
News of the deal in April sparked the largest street protests in Egypt since a law effectively banning protest came into place in November 2013. More than 250 people were detained in protests against the deal on 25 April, with more than 150 of these later given prison sentences of between two and five years. While overtly organised to protest the islands transfer, the protests also served as a broad base for anti-government feeling.