Last month, the Egyptian State Council judicial body judged that the agreement on maritime borders between Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed in April as invalid. The Egyptian government appealed the court’s decision arguing that the State Council has no powers to issue verdicts on the case.
If the court decision is overturned, the Egyptian-Saudi agreement has yet to be ratified by the Egyptian parliament. The Saudi side has ratified the agreement.
In April, the agreement between Cairo and Riyadh on the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the southern entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba triggered a week of mass rallies on the streets in central Cairo.
Egypt has been in control of Tiran and Sanafir for over 60 years. The islands could be potentially used for constructing a bridge across the Red Sea, announced on April 8 by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
