News Analysis: Egypt gov't pressured as court nullifies transfer of Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

The Egyptian government is currently facing pressure after a top court has nullified a deal to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, said Egyptian political experts.

On Monday, the Supreme Administrative Court issued a verdict that nullifies the transfer of the two Red Sea islands, Tiran and Sanafir, to Saudi Arabia. The verdict is final and cannot be appealed according to legal experts.

"It is settled in the court's conscience that the sovereignty of Egypt over the two islands is incontestable," said the court ruling, warning that "It is prohibited for all authorities, or even the Egyptian people themselves, by order of the constitution, to hold any agreement or take any measures that lead to giving up the two islands."

The verdict was received by cheers of victory of the lawyers who challenged the deal through official documents and maps, as well as a lot of Egyptians who protested it.

The court rejected the Egyptian government's appeal against a previous similar court ruling and said the government did not provide documents proving the islands belonged to the kingdom.

"The Egyptian government was put under pressure of the public opinion after the ruling that made a lot of Egyptians happy," said Saeed al-Lawindi, researcher of international relations at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

He added that the government seems persistent on the deal but it remained silent after the court order not to provoke the public.

In April, during a rare visit of Saudi King Salman, Egypt's government signed an agreement to place both islands under Saudi Arabian sovereignty, saying they had always belonged to the oil-rich Gulf state and that Egypt had been merely administering them on behalf of the kingdom since the 1950s.

The deal prompted outcry and provoked protests of many Egyptians, but Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi insisted in a televised speech back then that it was time for Egypt to return the two islands to their rightful owner.

"The verdict put an end to the re-demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the parliament can no longer discuss it. The ruling also shows that the Egyptian people are by no means willing to give up the two islands," Lawindi told Xinhua.

The court ruling came a couple of weeks after the government sent the deal to the parliament for discussion, hoping for its ratification as the majority of lawmakers belong to "Egypt's Support" pro-government bloc.

"The verdict also put the parliament in a critical situation, although the deal now is at the hands of the parliament and the Egyptian political leadership," said Mokhtar Ghubashi, deputy chief of the Arab Center for Political Studies.

The expert continued that the court order put an end to the Egyptian domestic debate over the sovereignty of the two islands, noting the parliament does not have mechanisms to stop the court ruling.

The pressure faced by the Egyptian government seems double-pronged. On the one hand, the court ruling puts the government face to face with the public opinion that seems displeased with the deal. On the other hand, it adds tense to the relations between Cairo and Riyadh, which have recently been blemished by their different positions on the Syrian crisis.

"I believe there would be some kind of political compromise between all parties after the court order, as the government is committed to abide by the ruling and the parliament can no longer discuss the deal," said Tarek Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University.

Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia, excluding Qatar, supported Sisi's leadership with billions of U.S. dollars and tons of oil supplies following the military removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the consequent crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group.

However, tense appeared on the horizon after Cairo clearly expressed support for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, a position that was lamented by Riyadh, which started in October 2016 to halt its oil shipments to the most populous Arab country.

"I hope the verdict does not further affect the Egyptian-Saudi ties. Calm is the best option for both sides and tension is in favor of neither, particularly at such a critical time the region is going through," the professor told Xinhua. Endit