Egyptian court rejects deal to hand Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had argued that the islands have always been part of Saudi Arabia, and were only placed under Egyptian control in 1950 for protection from Israel.

Tiran, foreground, and the Sanafir islands near the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. An Egyptian court has rejected an agreement to hand the islands to Saudi Arabia. AFP

CAIRO // An Egyptian court yesterday declared void a border agreement with Saudi Arabia in which Egypt would hand over control of two Red Sea islands.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had argued that the April deal would bring economic benefits to Egypt.

He said the islands had always been part of Saudi Arabia, and were placed under Egyptian control in 1950 for protection from Israel.

The government said last night that it had appealed against the ruling.

The uninhabited islands of Tiran and Sanafir lie along narrow shipping lanes leading north to the port cities of Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan.

Israel occupied the two islands in the 1956 Suez War but withdrew the following year. The closure of the strait by then Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser is seen as one of the main causes of the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war, in which Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula.

The Sinai was returned to Egypt, together with the two islands, under the landmark 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Under its provisions, Egypt is not allowed to station troops on either island.

The court said Egypt had long exercised full and uncontested sovereignty over the two islands. “To the extent that Egypt sacrificed the blood of its sons in defence of the two islands, that speaks loudly of them being Egyptian territory,” its ruling said.

It said handing the islands to Saudi Arabia was a “gross violation” of the country’s constitution, citing a clause in the 2014 charter requiring a nationwide referendum on agreements “related to making peace and alliance, and those related to the rights of sovereignty”.

Critics of the border deal, which was announced during a high-profile visit by King Salman alongside billions of dollars worth of new Saudi aid, view it as a sell-off of sovereign territory.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets over the islands in the largest demonstrations since Mr El Sisi was elected in 2014.

Egypt’s parliament, which is packed with government supporters, has been expected to debate the agreement and vote on whether to endorse it. No date has been set for the discussion.

In a brief verdict met with an eruption of applause and joyful chants, judge Yahya Dakroury ruled that the two islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba remain under Egyptian sovereignty and banned “any changes on the two islands for the benefit of any foreign country”.

“This is a very important step,” said Khalid Ali, a lawyer and former presidential candidate who jointly brought the case against the government with another lawyer.

“I appeal to the Egyptian government to implement the court’s ruling. This is the land of our ancestors. You must protect it, and those islands are Egyptian and will remain Egyptian forever.”

Mr El Sisi has acknowledged that the demarcation negotiations were held over several months in secrecy to avoid unwanted media attention and opposition to the deal.

“We did not surrender our rights but we restored the rights of others,” he said in April. “Please, I don’t want anyone to talk about this any more.”

* Associated Press