Following the public outrage surrounding the Egyptian government’s decision to cede two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi responded to the criticism in a speech on Wednesday, saying the move was supported by state documents. “The decision [to acknowledge the Saudi claim] was made through documents with the Egyptian state institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the General Intelligence Service; we also stuck to the 1990 presidential decree which was submitted to the United Nations,” Al-Sisi said in a televised meeting attended by state officials and public figures. He pointed out that it is important to acknowledge the difference between personal opinions and decisions taken by the state. “The controversy is caused by the difference between how the state deals with the issue and how people take it from an individual perspective,” he said. The president went on to say that he began studying the issue of redrawing maritime borders with Saudi Arabia in June 2014, the same month he assumed the post of president. “In June 2014, I started to look into to the issue and…
Sisi, Government Respond to Criticism Against Ceding Red Sea Islands to Saudi Arabia
April 13, 2016
