Egypt court voids ruling halting transfer of islands to Saudi Arabia Published duration 2 April 2017

image copyright AFP image caption Tiran (foreground) and Sanafir (background) are uninhabited save for peacekeepers and troops

An Egyptian court has annulled an earlier ruling that blocked the transfer of sovereignty of two islands to Saudi Arabia, judicial sources say.

The Court of Urgent Matters struck down the January ruling of the High Administrative Court.

The transfer of the uninhabited Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to the Saudis has led to protests in Egypt.

The urgent matters court has issued a similar ruling before and the latest is also subject to appeal.

Any transfer must be also approved by parliament.

Tiran and Sanafir, located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, were transferred to Saudi Arabia in a deal signed last April.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the islands had always belonged to Saudi Arabia and that the Saudis had asked Egypt to station troops there in 1950 to protect them.

But Mr Sisi was accused of violating the constitution and "selling" the islands in return for a multi-billion dollar aid package announced during a visit to Cairo by King Salman.

Saudi Arabia has backed Mr Sisi financially since he led the military's overthrow of his Islamist predecessor, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013.

'Usurping authority'

The High Administrative Court ruled in January that the government had failed to provide evidence that the islands were originally Saudi.

media caption The court ruling was greeted by cheers and singing

However, the Court of Urgent Matters has now accepted a lawsuit filed by a lawyer, Ashraf Farahat, and threw out that ruling, the private Al-Yawm al-Sabi website reported.

The Court of Urgent Matters is given jurisdiction when it is feared a case will get bogged down in the system.

Since the 2011 Arab Spring, it has been used more prominently, including ruling on cases that involve bans on political parties.

After a similar Court of Urgent Matters ruling in September that backed the transfer of the islands, lawyer and former presidential candidate Khaled Ali accused it of usurping the authority of the State Council.

The High Administrative Court is part of the State Council, a judicial body that gives legal advice to the government, drafts legislation, and exercises jurisdiction over administrative cases.

Uproar at Mr Sisi's maritime border demarcation accord prompted protests across Egypt at which hundreds people were detained, according to human rights activists.

Why the Red Sea islands matter