During Saudi King Salman’s first official visit to Egypt on April 11, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the transfer of two islands to Saudi Arabia. The Tiran and Sanafir islands have been controlled by Egypt since 1950. The agreement redraws the maritime boundary between the two nations as the islands situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. The agreement also included plans revive the building of a bridge that would create a direct link between the countries.

The uninhabited islands, once the border between the Uthmani Khilafah and British-controlled Egypt, are strategically important because of their location on the sea route to the ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in the Jewish entity.

Comment:

To begin, from the Islamic point of view it makes no difference whether the two islands are located in the Egyptian side, or the Hijaz’s, for both are Islamic countries, but in origin both countries and the two islands must be part of one state; the Khilafah state on the method of Prophethood. But through the grim patriotic outlook which is observed by the rulers, and those who applaud them, I say we will hurl you by your stones:

The announcement that a team of Egyptian experts has concluded that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir were inside Saudi territorial waters took everyone by surprise, raising criticism by some that the move amounted to a territorial sell-off to the oil-rich Saudis at a time when Egypt’s battered economy needs all the help it can get.

Saudi Arabia has been bank rolling Egypt evert since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. Ever since King Salman came to power, he and Sissi have played a key role in the US agenda for the region. But Egypt is facing significant domestic political, economic and social problems.

Sisi came to power after the Muslim Brotherhoods Muhammed Morsi was unable to tackle the opposition against them. The economic situation deteriorated and eventually Sisi removed Morsi with America’s blessing. With plenty of optimism, many supported Sisi as the saviour of Egypt. But Sisi have proven to be incompetent.

Sisi maintained the army’s control of the economy, which according to some estimates is nearly 60%. This has means the economy, despite all its problems from the Arab Spring has become worse. Sisi attempted to tackle this with a host of large ticket projects including the extension of the Suez Canal, but none of this have made a difference. Sisi has dealt with the crisis by using the iron fist, like his predecessors did.

The Egyptian media even went to great lengths to justify Saudi Arabia’s claim to the islands. In the same vein, a Foreign Ministry statement lauded the decision as the fruit of “more than six years of hard and long work.” “Egypt has not surrendered a single square inch of its territory under any condition,” the top state newspaper Al-Ahram said in its editorial. “But it will be unreasonable to deny our brothers their right to holding on to their own territory when all documents prove their ownership.”

The people of Egypt have reacted with fury against Sisi sale of Egyptian territory. Sisi for long vowed the public could trust him and that he would protect Egypt and would lead the country to a better situation. But after 2 years he has driven the country onto the ground and now is selling Egypt to pay for Saudi’s financing, which has allowed them both to protect the US agenda in the region.

This is just the latest case of Sisi losing support, it remains to be seen how long Sisi will last.

Adnan Khan