Deal of Red Sea islands based on Mubarak’s decree: FM

CAIRO – 11 June 2017: The controversial maritime demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia based on a presidential decree, was issued by former President Hosni Mubarak, said Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in an inquiry session on the deal at the House of Representatives on Sunday.

Mubarak’s decree was issued on Jan. 9, 1990 on “regulating the maritime boundaries,” the minister added, noting that that the 1990 decree does not say that the two islands are Egyptian.

A long debate has persisted over the sovereignty of the Tiran and Sanafir islands, which Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi transferred to Saudi Arabia as per an agreement in April 2016.

Shoukry said that the government’s decision of announcing the Saudi sovereignty over the two islands also based on a letter written on March 3, 1990 by former Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Magid to his Saudi counterpart over “Saudi identity of the Tiran and Sanafir.”

Abiding by the international convictions, Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, along with the protocol of Multinational Force and Observers, Egypt has contacted Israeli authorities to confirm that Israel complies with the Egyptian-Saudi deal after transporting the islands to Saudi Arabia.

The Foreign Minister continued that the Israeli authorities confirmed its abidance to the Egyptian-Saudi deal. Israel said that the deal does not breach the peace treaty, he continued.