Egypt says ruling on maritime demarcation deal with Saudi unbinding

CAIRO, March 3 (Xinhua) — Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on Saturday that all previous judicial verdicts on the maritime demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia are unbinding, official MENA news agency reported.

The court said previous rulings issued by the State Council or the Court for Urgent Matters regarding the demarcation of maritime borders between Egypt and Saudi Arabia will not be taken into account.

Last June, the constitutional court ruled that all previous verdicts on the deal were suspended until a final judicial decision is made.

Under the deal, which was signed in April 2016 during a rare visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Egypt, two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir will be transferred to the Saudi authorities.

The deal has gone through a judicial debate in Egypt.

While previous State Council Court’s rulings invalidated the deal, a later verdict from the court of Urgent Matters rejected these rulings.

In its Saturday’s ruling, the Constitutional Court said State Council’s rulings on the agreement represented an aggression against the jurisdiction of the legislative authority, adding that signing the demarcation agreement by the representative of the Egyptian state is a political affair.

On the conflicting verdict of the Urgent Matters Court, the Constitutional Court said its ruling will not be heeded either since it contravened the Egyptian constitution.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his administration see that it is time to return the two islands to their rightful owner Saudi Arabia, while opponents believe the islands belong to Egypt and giving them up means sacrificing national soil for temporary interests.

Last June, Sisi ratified the deal a week after the Egyptian parliament approved it in a general vote.

Saudi Arabia led its support to Sisi’s government with billions of U.S. dollars and generous oil supplies following the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule.

SOURCE: XHINUA