Egypt Arrests 12 Protesting Transfer of Red Sea Islands to Saudis

Local Editor

Egyptian police arrested 12 people at a protest against the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Security officials said the Monday arrests were made around the Journalists' Union building in central Cairo, where dozens of people, mostly lawyers and journalists, had gathered to demonstrate.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief reporters.

Last Thursday, state media reported that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi's government approved the maritime border agreement and sent it to parliament for ratification despite a court ruling the deal unconstitutional.

The transfer was announced alongside a Saudi aid package last year, leading critics to condemn it as a land sell-off. The April signing of the agreement set off the largest demonstrations of el-Sisi's two-year rule.

On April 9, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir fell within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia as stipulated in a border accord signed between Cairo and Riyadh the previous day.

The controversial decision triggered unprecedented mass demonstrations ever since, with protesters slamming the arrangement as unconstitutional.

Demonstrators and critics accused Sisi of surrendering Egyptian territory for money, with reports saying Cairo is receiving 20 billion dollars in aid from Riyadh in return for agreeing to relinquish sovereignty over the islands.

The uninhabited islands of Tiran and Sanafir lie about four kilometers apart in the Red Sea. They are situated in the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba leading to Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team