Parliament initiates discussion of Tiran, Sanafir deal Sunday

CAIRO – 9 June 2017: The Parliament’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee will discuss the controversial maritime demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, per which Egypt announced Saudi sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, on Sunday.

The three-day discussion will consider the government’s approval of the accord; in April 2015, the Egyptian Cabinet announced that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located at the entrance of Red Sea’s Al-Aqaba Gulf, are Saudi Territories.

A recent study conducted by Egyptian constitutional law professor Salah Fawzy provided new facts that Saudi Arabia does indeed have sovereignty over the two disputed Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir.

A team of lawyers defending Egyptian sovereignty of the islands presented documents showing Egypt’s control over the territory dating back to 1906, at the time of the Ottoman Empire.

Tiran and Sanafir are located in the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. Egyptian officials say they belong to Saudi Arabia and have been under former Egyptian control only because Riyadh requested Cairo protect them in 1950.