CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court rejected on Monday a government plan to transfer two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, in a final ruling that prompted cheers in the courtroom but could deepen tensions with the country’s erstwhile financial backer.

Egyptian lawyer and ex-Presidential candidate Khaled Ali shouts slogans inside the State Council courthouse after a ruling against the Egypt-Saudi border demarcation agreement, in Cairo, Egypt January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Egypt’s government announced during a visit by the Saudi king in April a maritime demarcation accord that would see it cede control of Tiran and Sanafir.

The deal prompted protests from Egyptians who said they had been taught in school that the islands belonged to them.

It has become a source of tension between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which showered its ally with tens of billions of dollars in aid in recent years but suspended petroleum supplies in September amid growing differences.

The court’s decision was based on “irrefutable evidence” as well as local and international practices which removed any doubt that the islands’ sovereignty belonged to Egypt alone, state news agency MENA said.

Two leading human rights lawyers had challenged the demarcation accord in Egypt’s administrative court system, which deals with cases involving the government and public entities.

One of them, Khaled Ali, called Monday’s verdict a “decisive” ruling.

“So it is not permissible for the president, or prime minister or parliament or cabinet or a referendum to give up this land,” Ali told Reuters. “It is Egyptian land and cannot be given up according to the Egyptian constitution.”

The lawyers won an initial ruling in June, but the government appealed, sending the case to the Higher Administrative Court which sits on atop the administrative judicial ladder.

Celebrations erupted as the judge read out the ruling, with jubilant supporters carrying Ali and his colleague Malek Adly out of the courtroom.

Hundreds of people outside waved Egyptian flags chanted “Egyptian, Egyptian” and “Bread, Freedom, the islands are Egyptian”.

“This verdict is a victory for Egypt,” Adly said.

There was no immediate response from the government.

Saudi and Egyptian officials had argued that the islands belonged to Saudi Arabia and were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them.

But the lawyers who opposed the accord said Egypt’s sovereignty over the islands dated back to a treaty in 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.</s>In landmark move, Egyptian court rules against government agreement to hand over 2 Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.</s>In final verdict, Egyptian court rules against government agreement to hand over Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

A top Egyptian court has issued a final ruling rejecting a government plan to transfer two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia in a deal that had provoked outrage among Egyptians and prompted rare protests.

Cheers broke out in the Cairo courtroom as the judge read out the verdict confirming Egyptian sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir and saying that the government had failed to provide evidence that the islands were Saudi.

The islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba control the narrow shipping lanes running north to the Red Sea port cities of Eilat and Aqaba, in Israel and Jordan.

The fate of the two islands has been at the heart of friction between Riyadh and Cairo over a string of regional issues, including Syria and Yemen.</s>A top Egyptian court has issued a final ruling rejecting a government plan to transfer two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Cheers broke out in the Cairo courtroom as the judge read out the verdict confirming Egyptian sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir and saying the government had failed to provide evidence that the islands were Saudi.

The deal to transfer the islands, announced in April, caused public uproar and protests by Egyptians, who believe Tiran and Sanafir belongs to their country.

The islands have become a source of tension with Saudi Arabia, which has provided Egypt with billions of dollars of aid but recently halted fuel shipments amid deteriorating relations.

Tiran and Sanafir are situated in the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba leading to Jordan and Israel. Saudi and Egyptian officials say they belong to Saudi Arabia and were under Egyptian control only because Riyadh asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them.</s>The Egyptian authorities tried last year to transfer the sovereignty of two rocky islands, Tiran and Sanafir, to Saudi Arabia, triggering a national uproar.

The uninhabited islands at the southern entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba were supposed to be used to build a bridge across the Red Sea, according to plans disclosed by the Saudi king in April.</s>Egyptian Court Rules Against Government Bid To Give Two Islands To Saudi Arabia

A top Egyptian court has ruled against the government's bid to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

It's an embarrassing ruling for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who has argued that the islands of Trian and Sanafir are historically Saudi. The Supreme Administrative Court disagreed, saying that they are Egyptian sovereign territory.

"It's enshrined in the court's conscience that Egypt's sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir is beyond doubt," presiding judge Ahmed al-Shazli told the court, according to The Associated Press.

This started last April, when Sissi announced that he planned to give the territory to Saudi Arabia during a visit to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has given Egypt billions of dollars in aid since the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, which Sissi led.

The announcement sparked protests, which are increasingly rare in Egypt because the government has banned all demonstrations that haven't received prior government approval. Courts sentenced dozens of people to prison time for participating in a peaceful demonstration about the islands, as we reported.

The proposed handover was seen by many Egyptians as an incursion on their sovereign territory and their nationalism — led by their own ultra-nationalist government. The government argues they are simply returning territory to its rightful owners.

The court's ruling sparked jubilant celebrations — hundreds rallied outside the court, chanting "Egyptian, Egyptian," and "Bread, Freedom, the islands are Egyptian," according to Reuters.

"So it is not permissible for the president, or prime minister or parliament or cabinet or a referendum to give up this land," lawyer Khaled Ali, one of the human rights lawyers who fought the handover, told Reuters. "It is Egyptian land and cannot be given up according to the Egyptian constitution."

This is the latest in a series of court rulings against the government's attempted handover, as NPR's Jane Arraf explains. Now, she adds, "the government seems to have run out of legal options but they have indicated they could try to find a way around that by asking parliament to approve the transfer." According to the state-run MENA news agency, "sentences by the Supreme Administrative Court are final and cannot be challenged."</s>A top Egyptian court issued a final ruling on Monday rejecting a government plan to transfer two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia in a deal that had provoked outrage among Egyptians and prompted rare protests.

Cheers broke out in the Cairo courtroom as the judge read out the verdict confirming Egyptian sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir and saying that the government had failed to provide evidence that the islands were Saudi.</s>An Egyptian court ruled on Monday against the government's decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia - a landmark verdict likely to deepen tensions with the kingdom.

 

 The ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court rejected an appeal by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government against a lower court's decision to annul the islands handover agreement, signed in April during a visit by the Saudi monarch, King Salman. During his visit, Salman pledged billions of dollars to Egypt in loans and investments.

 

 The agreement was condemned by many in Egypt who saw it as a land sell-off. It also sparked the largest demonstrations against el-Sissi's two-year rule. Ignoring the legal process, el-Sissi's government last month approved the agreement on the islands and sent it to parliament for ratification. The 596-seat chamber is packed with el-Sissi supporters.

 

 WATCH: Video from the scene



 Monday's verdict was met by an eruption of jubilation by activists and lawyers in the courtroom in Cairo, some of whom sang the national anthem.

 

 Outside the court, a small number of activists chanted: "Saudi Arabia, take your money back, for tomorrow, the Egyptian people will trample on you.'' There were minor scuffles between police and several dozen people outside the courthouse who attempted to stage a demonstration.

The court said the two islands, Sanafir and Tiran, are Egyptian - contrary to the government's claim that they were Saudi and only given to Egypt in the 1950s to protect them from a possible attack by Israel.

 

 "It's enshrined in the court's conscience that Egypt's sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir is beyond doubt," the court's presiding judge, Yahya al-Dakrouri, said in announcing the verdict to a packed courtroom.





 The judge said the government lawyers did not provide the court with documents "or anything else" that could persuade the court to believe otherwise.

 

 Sanafir and Tiran are located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, controlling the narrow shipping lanes running to and from the Red Sea port cities of Eilat and Aqaba, in Israel and Jordan, to the north.

 

 The fate of the two islands has been at the heart of friction between Riyadh and Cairo over a string of regional issues, including Syria and Yemen. Last September, Saudi Arabia unilaterally suspended fuel shipments to Egypt agreed during Salman's visit to Egypt, forcing Cairo to scurry for alternative sellers.</s>CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court has ruled against the government’s decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia — a landmark verdict likely to deepen tensions with the kingdom.

Monday’s ruling rejected the government’s appeal against a lower court’s decision to annul the handover agreement, signed in April.

The Supreme Administrative Court said the two islands, Sanafir and Tiran, are Egyptian, debunking the government’s claim that they were Saudi.

The islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba control the narrow shipping lanes running north to the Red Sea port cities of Eilat and Aqaba, in Israel and Jordan.

The fate of the two islands has been at the heart of friction between Riyadh and Cairo over a string of regional issues, including Syria and Yemen.</s>Egypt’s top administrative court upheld on Monday a ruling voiding a government agreement to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia in a deal that sparked rare protests.

The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had appealed against a lower court ruling in June that found the controversial border demarcation agreement was illegal.

In its ruling, the High Administrative Court said it was its “unanimous” decision that the two islands -- Tiran and Sanafir -- were sovereign Egyptian territories.

The courtroom erupted in cheers as the judge delivered the verdict, with lawyers and activists chanting: “These islands are Egyptian.”

The decision came after the government referred the agreement to parliament for a vote.

It may further complicate ties between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, a main financial backer of Sisi since the former army chief toppled his Islamist predecessor in 2013.

Saudi Arabia has already signalled unease by stopping a promised flow of oil to Egypt, leaving Cairo scrambling to find a new supplier.

But relations have cooled over Egypt’s stance on war-torn Syria, whose President Bashar al-Assad is seen as closer to Russia than Saudi Arabia which supports rebels fighting him.

Lawyers present in court told AFP the ruling was final, but a former senior judge said the government could still find a way to appeal it.

Mohamed Hamed al-Gamal, the former head of the administrative court, said the decision was final according to this court’s procedure, but it could be unconstitutional.

“The law and the constitution affirm the absence of administrative court jurisdiction in sovereign matters such as international treaties,” Gamal said.

The government may challenge the ruling before the constitutional court, he added.

The deal to hand over the islands, signed during an April visit by Saudi King Salman in which Riyadh showered Egypt with aid, provoked accusations that Cairo had “sold” the strategic islands.

Cairo said the islands were Saudi to start with, but had been leased to Egypt in the 1950s.

But even many who agreed with the government objected to the way the deal was announced, buried in a cabinet statement a day after it was signed.

Two rare protests were held in downtown Cairo in April against the deal, leading to clashes with police and arrests of activists.

More than 100 people were jailed for up to five years for taking part in demonstrations that police quickly dispersed, but they were later freed on appeal.

Police had also made scores of arrests in the lead-up to the protests to discourage a repeat of a large rally on April 15 at which demonstrators chanted for the “fall of the regime”.

Sisi had defended the deal, and said in a televised meeting with politicians that his mother had taught him “not to take other people’s belongings”.

He further requested that the matter not be brought up again.
A top Egyptian court rules against giving away the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.