President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, and King Salman on Saudi Arabia have agreed on a maritime border deal that has given ownership of the two Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir over to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Advertisement
But opponents of the move said that a 1906 treaty signed by Britain and the Ottoman Empire, marking the border between Egypt and Ottoman-held Arabia, had put the islands in Egyptian territory.
Ya’alon noted since the freedom of passage is ensured in the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, an early request was made to Israel regarding the transfer of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman called for “unity” and “joint alliance” during his historic speech at Egypt’s Parliament on Sunday where he became the first Arab leader to deliver such an address in Cairo.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian government says that its decision comes after a six-year process of studies and eleven rounds of negotiations between officials and experts from Cairo and Riyadh.
In return, Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh Al-Sissi gifted two uninhabited islands at the mouth of the Straits of Tiran to the Saudis.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman’s five-day visit to Egypt was supposed to bring welcome news for the Egyptians.
Any agreement on the two islands must be ratified by the Egyptian parliament, a 596-seat chamber packed with Sisi supporters.
Egyptian state TV said the agreement was to establish “a Saudi-Egyptian investment fund with a capital of 60 billion riyals between the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the entities belonging to it and the Egyptian government and the entities that belong to it”.
Egyptian political satirist, Bassem Youssef, who started the #Awadsoldhisland hashtag in Arabic, wrote a tweet saying: “Come on Pasha, an island will cost you a billion, a pyramid will cost two billion and you’ll get two statues thrown in as a gift”.
The islands are mentioned in the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, and the Saudis are pledging to honor its terms – albeit while stressing that they will have no direct contact with Israel over the matter.
The five would-be protesters were found with banners denouncing the Egypt-Saudi agreement. It lies on the significant sea route leading to the Israeli port of Eilat and Jordanian port of Aqaba.
The ownership of the two islands had been transferred to Egypt in 1982, when Tel Aviv and Cairo signed the so-called Camp David peace accords.
Egypt hopes a slew of agreements signed with Saudi Arabia will help boost its battered economy.
Social media users shared photographs from textbooks showing how the islands fell within Egyptian waters.
Advertisement
Outraged activitsts portrayed the President as “Awaad”, a character in an old Egyptian song who sold his land, shamefully so in the eyes of rural Egyptians.
