Verdict in Egypt's appeal against Red Sea islands transfer ruling postponed

Egypt's Administrative Court postponed on Sunday a verdict in a government appeal against last week's ruling that nullified a deal signed between Cairo and Riyadh in April that placed two Red Sea islands into the Saudi water.

According to state-run MENA news agency, the session was postponed to July 3 until a decision made on a lawsuit seeking the stepping down of the court's body.

Last Tuesday, the same court nullified the maritime border demarcation accord to transfer the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

The court said waiving all rights of the two islands to Riyadh is null and void.

According to the court's ruling, "the agreement violated the country's 1906 demarcation agreement and the deal cannot be submitted to the parliament for approval based on the constitution".

Egypt's State Lawsuits Authority, the body representing the government in legal cases, appealed the ruling right after it was announced.

On April 12, the Egyptian Cabinet announced that the joint Egyptian-Saudi technical maritime border drawing has determined that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within the Saudi waters.

The agreement of the two islands, which lie at the south entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba in the north of the Red Sea, also provoked an immediate backlash in Egypt, with hundreds of people protested against "selling the islands."

The two islands are of a strategic significance in the area, as they form the narrowest section of the strait of Tiran, which is an important sea passage to the major ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel.

The islands are currently inhabited only by military personnel from Egypt as well as the multinational force and observers. Endit