'Sisi needs Saudi money to stay in power'
Just ahead of Egypt’s highly controversial presidential election marred by the elimination of all key rivals in the race for the top job, the country’s Supreme Court has raised another controversy by ordering the implementation of a deal that cedes the sovereignty of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, a day before a visit by the Arab kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the African country.
Talking to Press TV, Colin Cavell, a university lecturer and political commentator, said he believes that Egypt’s decision is basically driven by the fact that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is in need of the money that Riyadh pays for the islands to be able to tighten the noose on his opponents, especially considering the upcoming presidential election.
“A country can’t sell off its land,” Cavell noted, adding that such a move needs to have the approval of both the parliament and the people to be considered as legal.
“What we have in Egypt is a general who waged a coup d'état in 2013 to overthrow the elected government. He was funded by Saudi Arabia and then staged a fake election in 2014 claiming 97 percent of people supported him and now by three weeks, he is going through an election again.”
Sisi “got rid of all opposition candidates and tomorrow Mohammed in Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, is coming to Egypt and Sisi wants more money because the coup d'état that he did against Morsi in 2013 was funded by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and it continues to funnel millions and millions of dollars into Egypt to keep Sisi in power," the analyst noted.
Sisi announced in April 2016 that the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir fell within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia as stipulated in a border accord signed between Cairo and Riyadh earlier that month, triggering legal action to block the deal and unprecedented mass demonstrations.
Protesters have accused the Egyptian president of surrendering Egyptian territory in return for Saudi money amid reports that Cairo is receiving 20 billion dollars in aid from Riyadh to relinquish the sovereignty of the uninhabited islands.
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