Controversy over the ownership of the Red Sea islands—Tiran and Sanafir—has surfaced again after a Cairo Court for Urgent Matters ruling on Sunday that gives sovereignty over the islands to Saudi Arabia. Sunday's ruling annulled a previous final verdict by the Supreme Administrative Court in January that rejected the maritime border demarcation treaty with Saudi Arabia under which the strategic islands were transferred to the oil-rich kingdom. The treaty was signed in April, 2016 during King Salman's first-ever visit to Cairo since his inauguration in 2015. The visit also saw the signing of other memoranda of understanding and commercial agreements. MP Haitham al-Hariri said he was extremely surprised at the Sunday ruling that dropped the causes of the January verdict. In press statements, Hariri confirmed the January verdict was final and cannot be appealed. He considered the ruling as "a source of distract for the Egyptians". Layer Khalid Ali, who filed the initial lawsuit to affirm the Egyptian ownership of the two islands, said the Supreme Administrative Court ruling was final and cannot be considered. Lawyer Tariq Nejida, member of the Front for the Defense of the Land, said the court of urgent matters is not entitled to consider such a case. Riyadh claims it asked Egypt to protect the islands in 1949 for the Saudi Army's weak military capabilities at that time. The Egyptian government has supported the Saudi claims, asserting Egypt had only controlled the islands administratively. However, the treaty triggered extreme popular anger. Thousands of Egyptians protested the agreement in what was known in the media as the "Friday of the Land". Hundreds of youths were also arrested in the protests.
