Egypt gives islets to Saudi Arabia

cairo - The Egyptian parliament agreed with the transfer of two uninhabited islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has to put his signature under the decision.

The Egyptian government announced the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir last year. That led to a storm of protest. A judge ruled in January that the government could not prove that the islands of Saudi Arabia are. That sentence was reversed in April.

Officials from both countries have previously said that the islands were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh had asked Cairo to protect them in 1950. Opponents claim that the islands have been under Egyptian authority since 1906.