Egypt to return two islands to SArabia, draws sharp criticism

Egypt will return two disputed Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia after controlling it for over 60 years in a bid to "restore" the rights of Saudis, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said, a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from Egyptians who see the move an insult to their national pride.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia agreed to maritime borders that handed ownership of disputed Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir over to Riyadh, Egyptian Cabinet said in a statement.
Egyptian government says the two islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba belong to Saudi Arabia, which asked Egypt in 1950 to protect them from Israel. Israel captured the islands in the 1967 Middle East war, but handed them back to Egypt under the provisions of the 1979 peace treaty.

"We did not surrender our rights, but we restored the rights of others. Egypt did not relinquish even a grain of sand," Sisi said.
The controversy is caused by the difference between how the state deals with the issue and how people take it from an individual perspective, he said.
"The decision was made through documents with the Egyptian state institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the General Intelligence Service; we also stuck to the 1990 presidential decree which was submitted to the United Nations," Sisi said, referring to several pieces of evidence that the government has put forward in recent days to explain the Saudi claim.

The return of the two islands has drawn sharp reaction from many Egyptians, who showed their refusal on social media from mockery to allegations of poor governance.

Many Egyptians view Tiran and Sanafir with patriotic fondness because of the islands' association with the four wars Egypt fought with Israel between 1948 and 1973.
The decision comes as Cairo struggles to steady its vital tourism sector. The decision was announced on Saturday during a five-day visit by King Salman.
Last Friday, the King Salman said that his country and Egypt would build a joint bridge over the Red Sea.
Salman said that the bridge would be aimed at boosting trade exchange between the two allied countries and connecting the two countries.

A recent statement by Egypt's government said that agreement of demarcation the maritime borders between Egypt and Saudi Arabia is an important achievement that will make the two countries benefit economically.
The statement also added that the islands Tiran and Sanafir now fall under the Saudi waters territory according to the Egypt and Saudi agreements which were signed as part of King Salman's visit to Egypt during last week.