Court upholds ruling halting transfer of islands to S/Arabia

A top Egyptian court has upheld a ruling halting a plan to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The High Administrative Court rejected an appeal by the government against a lower court’s decision to stop it handing over Tiran and Sanafir. Cheers erupted as the judge delivered the verdict, saying the government had […]

A top Egyptian court has upheld a ruling halting a plan to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
The High Administrative Court rejected an appeal by the government against a lower court’s decision to stop it handing over Tiran and Sanafir.
Cheers erupted as the judge delivered the verdict, saying the government had failed to provide evidence that the islands were originally Saudi.
The transfer deal, signed last April, sparked rare protests in Egypt. Tiran and Sanafir are located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. They are uninhabited apart from Egyptian troops and multi-national peacekeepers.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the islands had always belonged to Saudi Arabia and that Riyadh had asked Egypt to station troops there in 1950 to protect them.