CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s parliament on Wednesday backed plans to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that has attracted widespread public criticism.

An aerial view of the coast of the Red Sea and the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir is pictured through the window of an airplane near Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 1, 2016. Picture taken November 1, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

House of Representatives Speaker Ali Abdelaal said the required majority of lawmakers had voted for the agreement, which the government signed last year, despite a court striking it down in March.

“I announce the House’s final approval of the maritime demarcation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed on April 8, 2016,” Abdelaal said before adjourning the session.

The treaty must now be ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which is a formality.

The vote came very swiftly. The House Committee on Defence and National Security unanimously backed the plan earlier on Wednesday and referred it to the House for a final vote.

A majority approved it less than four hours later. Those opposed to the measure stood up in protest and chanted “Egyptian, Egyptian” in reference to the islands.

“Today is a terrible day for the Egyptian people, one in which the nation has lost part of its land,” said lawmaker Haitham al-Hariri.

Several legislators opposed to the deal threatened to hold an open-ended sit-in. Some said they were considering resigning in protest.

Sisi’s government last year announced the maritime demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia, which has given billions of dollars of aid to Egypt, ceding control of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir.

The plan triggered street protests last year from many Egyptians, who say their country’s sovereignty over the islands dates back to a treaty from 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.

Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Cairo outside the press union on Tuesday evening. Eight were arrested, including three journalists, and are being held for 24 hours to be questioned on accusations of illegally protesting and insulting the president, according to state news agency MENA.

The Egyptian and Saudi governments say the islands are Saudi but have been subject to Egyptian protection since 1950 at the request of Saudi Arabia.

JURISDICTION SPAT

The treaty has been referred to the courts, irritating Riyadh and raising tensions between two Arab allies.

Egypt’s highest administrative court blocked the deal but parliament insisted the matter was constitutionally within its domain.

Parliamentary leaders and government lawyers say the House of Representatives is the only entity allowed to rule on matters of sovereignty while the Supreme Administrative Court insists it is within its jurisdiction to scrap the deal.

The Supreme Constitutional Court will rule on who has jurisdiction but has not set a date or even started discussing the issue. It was not immediately clear what the legal situation of the treaty was following Wednesday’s vote.

A government report advising parliament on the terms of the agreement said Egypt would keep administrative control over the islands and Egyptians would not need visas to visit them if they were transferred to Saudi Arabia.

Opposition groups accuse Sisi of handing over the islands to please his Saudi backers and in return for continued aid.

Saudi Arabia was Sisi’s biggest international supporter when he led the military in ousting an elected but unpopular Islamist president in 2013 following mass protests.</s>Egypt's plan to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that has attracted widespread criticism moved closer to fruition with parliament set to vote on the measure on Wednesday.

CAIRO: Egypt's parliament on Wednesday backed plans to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that has attracted widespread public criticism.

House of Representatives Speaker Ali Abdelaal said the required majority of lawmakers had voted for the agreement, which the government signed last year, despite a court striking it down in March.

"I announce the House's final approval of the maritime demarcation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed on April 8, 2016," Abdelaal said before adjourning the session.

The treaty must now be ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which is a formality.

The vote came very swiftly. The House Committee on Defence and National Security unanimously backed the plan earlier on Wednesday and referred it to the House for a final vote.

A majority approved it less than four hours later. Those opposed to the measure stood up in protest and chanted "Egyptian, Egyptian" in reference to the islands.

Sisi's government last year announced the maritime demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia, which has given billions of dollars of aid to Egypt, ceding control of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir.

The plan triggered street protests last year from many Egyptians, who say their country's sovereignty over the islands dates back to a treaty from 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.

Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Cairo on Tuesday evening. The press union, where the protest was held, said three of its members were still being detained. A total of eight people were being questioned on accusations of illegally protesting and insulting the president.

The Egyptian and Saudi governments say the islands are Saudi but have been subject to Egyptian protection since 1950 at the request of Saudi Arabia.

The treaty has been referred to the courts, irritating Riyadh and raising tensions between two Arab allies.

Egypt's highest administrative court blocked the deal but parliament insisted the matter was constitutionally within its domain.

Parliamentary leaders and government lawyers say the House of Representatives is the only entity allowed to rule on matters of sovereignty while the Supreme Administrative Court insists it is within its jurisdiction to scrap the deal.

The Supreme Constitutional Court will rule on who has jurisdiction but has not set a date or even started discussing the issue. It was not immediately clear what the legal situation of the treaty was following Wednesday's vote.

A government report advising parliament on the terms of the agreement said Egypt would keep administrative control over the islands and Egyptians would not need visas to visit them if they were transferred to Saudi Arabia.

Opposition groups accuse Sisi of handing over the islands to please his Saudi backers and in return for continued aid.

Saudi Arabia was Sisi's biggest international supporter when he led the military in ousting an elected but unpopular Islamist president in 2013 following mass protests.</s>The Egyptian parliament approved in a final vote on Wednesday a controversial deal under which Egypt is to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian state TV reported.

The approval came during a general session that was held earlier in the day following the approval of the parliament’s defence and national security committee. The parliament’s legislative committee passed it on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

The Egyptian parliament is divided over a maritime demarcation deal signed last year, according to which Egypt will hand over the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia. The majority of members are in favour of the deal.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his administration see that the two islands originally belonged to Saudi Arabia and it is time to return them to their rightful owners, while opposers of the deal believe that the islands are Egyptian and giving them up will be sacrificing national soil for temporary interests.

Egyptian courts have previously nullified the agreement that was signed in April 2016 during a rare visit of Saudi King Salman to Egypt.

Saudi Arabia led Gulf support to Sisi’s government with billions of dollars and tons of oil supplies following the Sisi-led removal of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 following mass protests.</s>CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's parliament on Wednesday backed plans to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that has attracted widespread public criticism.

 Original Article</s>CAIRO (Sputnik) — In April 2016, the authorities of Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed the agreement declaring the uninhabited Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir falling within the latter's territorial waters. The deal, which needs the parliament's ratification, sparked criticism and resulted in more than 150 people reportedly jailed in connection with the protests over the agreement.

Egypt's Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marwan said that before passing to the general vote, the deal must be examined by the parliamentary defense committee, the media added.

On Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry said that the decision to hand the islands over to Saudi Arabia was taken after the conclusion had been reached by the Egyptian authorities that there was no legal foundation for Egypt's possession of the islands. Egypt occupied the two Saudi islands in 1967 to safeguard them against Israeli aggression, the minister added.

Forty-seven percent of Egyptians consider the islands located in the strategic part of the Red Sea bordered by Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as Egyptian, the poll of the independent Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research cited by the same news outlet showed Tuesday. According to the survey data, only 11 percent believe that the islands are Saudi.</s>Opponents of the government, and even some of its supporters, were enraged by the secrecy that surrounded the agreement until it was announced. Generations of Egyptians had grown up learning in school that the two islands belonged to their country, and that soldiers had died defending them during wars with Israel. ( Photo: AP) Opponents of the government, and even some of its supporters, were enraged by the secrecy that surrounded the agreement until it was announced. Generations of Egyptians had grown up learning in school that the two islands belonged to their country, and that soldiers had died defending them during wars with Israel. ( Photo: AP)

Egypt’s Parliament today approved a controversial maritime accord with Saudi Arabia that transfers two strategic Red Sea islands to the kingdom, state television and a lawmaker said. The deal, which is still being challenged in an Egyptian court, sparked rare protests last year, with the opposition accusing the government of selling Egyptian territory to its Saudi benefactors.

The vote came after days of heated debate in parliament with opponents even interrupting one committee session with chanting. Courts had struck down the agreement, signed in April 2016, but a year later another court upheld it.

Lawyers are now challenging the deal before the constitutional court, and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will have to ratify it. The accord had sparked rare protests in Egypt, with Sisi accused of having traded the islands of Tiran and Sanafir for Saudi largesse. The government has said the islands were Saudi to begin with, but were leased to Egypt in the 1950s.

Opponents of the agreement insist that Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian. Last evening, dozens of journalists protested against the agreement in central Cairo, before being dispersed by police, journalists’ union official Gamal Abdel Rehim told AFP.

Several were briefly arrested before being released but “three reporters are still detained, and contacts are being made with the interior ministry to get them released”. The government first announced the deal during a visit by Saudi King Salman in April 2016 during which Riyadh showered Egypt with aid.

Opponents of the government, and even some of its supporters, were enraged by the secrecy that surrounded the agreement until it was announced. Generations of Egyptians had grown up learning in school that the two islands belonged to their country, and that soldiers had died defending them during wars with Israel.

Lying at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, the islands can be used to control access to the Israeli port of Eilat. They were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war before being returned to Egypt under the 1979 Camp David Accords. Sisi went ahead with the deal even though it threatened to dent his popularity, and at a time the government, which is grappling with austerity reforms that have fuelled inflation, is wary of protests.

Over the past weeks, Egypt has blocked dozens of news websites. While many of the sites are based in regional rival Qatar, others are Egyptian and have expressed criticism of the islands’ transfer.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Cairo: A second Egyptian Parliament committee has approved a 2016 agreement to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, hours after clashes between police and opponents of the deal in downtown Cairo.

Members of the defense and national security committee say they have approved the pact in a closed meeting on Wednesday, paving the way for the document to be ratified by the full house, a virtual foregone conclusion given that the 596-seat chamber is packed with government supporters.

Another committee approved the deal on Tuesday.

When the agreement came to light last year it sparked the biggest protests of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's rule. Eight people arrested during the clashes late Tuesday remained in custody.

Meanwhile, the government maintains the islands have always been Saudi. Critics say their transfer amounts to treason.</s>Parliament approves controversial treaty to hand over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

Egypt's parliament has voted to ratify a 2016 agreement under which Cairo would transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Wednesday's vote, during which those politicians in favour of the accord were asked to stand up in the house, came shortly after the 596-seat chamber opened a debate on the pact earlier in the day.

The debate followed clashes the previous night between police and opponents of the deal in downtown Cairo that saw policemen kick, punch and use sticks to beat several dozen protesters.

The outcome of the vote was a foregone conclusion since parliament is packed with supporters of the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The government insists the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba were always Saudi but were placed under Egypt's protection amid Arab-Israeli tensions in the 1950s.

Critics have linked the islands' transfer to the billions of dollars in Saudi aid given to Sisi's government, saying it amounts to a sell-off of sovereign territory.

The island of Tiran, a popular destination for Red Sea divers, controls a narrow shipping lane that leads to and from the ports of Eilat and Aqaba, in Israel and Jordan respectively.

Egypt's unilateral closure of that lane was among the main reasons behind the outbreak of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, in which Egypt lost the entire Sinai Peninsula.

The agreement to hand over the islands was announced during the April 2016 visit to Cairo by the Saudi king, leading to the largest anti-government protests since Sisi took office in 2014. Hundreds of demonstrators and activists were arrested, with most later released.

A court ruled against the islands' transfer in January, but politicians who support the deal say parliament has the right to ratify international agreements.

"There is nothing in the agreement that violates the constitution," Kamal Amer, chairman of the defence committee, told the house on Wednesday.

"It is designed to realise and perpetuate the mutual interests of the two nations and it also came in response to Saudi requests [to take back the islands] made in 1984, 1989 and 1990."

"The demarcation of the border between Saudi Arabia and Egypt confirmed that the islands are on the side of that brotherly nation, but we are confident that they [the islands] will always be used to serve national Egyptian and Arab security," Amer added.

Earlier on Wednesday, members of the defence and national security committee said they approved the deal with a 35-2 vote in favour of the pact, paving the way for the document to be ratified by the full house.

The house's legislative and constitutional committee approved the deal on Tuesday after a three-day, often raucous review during which politicians got into heated arguments, pushed and shoved each other and came close to blows.</s>CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's plan to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that has caused widespread controversy moved closer to fruition with parliament set to vote on the measure on Wednesday.

 Original Article</s>CAIRO, June 14 (Reuters) - Egypt's parliament will hold a final vote on a plan to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia later on Wednesday after a key parliamentary committee approved it, the committee chainman has said.

"We have unanimously approved the maritime demarcation accord with Saudi Arabia and it will be voted on in the general session today," said House of Representatives Committee on Defence and National Security Chairman Kamal Amer. (Reporting by Nashaat Hamdy; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing Giles Elgood)
The Egyptian parliament approves the transfer of two uninhabited Red Sea islands, Tiran Island and Sanafir Island, to Saudi Arabia.