Saudi king's visit overshadowed by Egyptian islands row
Saudi King Salman's trip to Egypt was meant to display the strength of ties between the two allies. But Cairo's transfer of two Red Sea islands to Riyadh during the visit stung Egyptian pride and drew criticism of what some saw as excessive Saudi influence.
The visit was meant to bury claims that diverging priorities in Yemen and Syria had damaged relations and demonstrate that Egypt and Saudi Arabia were vital to each other's security.
But after five days of official obsequiousness towards the 80-year-old monarch and no sign of any direct Saudi aid money, Saturday's news on the islands overshadowed the visit's original purpose.
Outraged Egyptians accused their once-popular president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, of giving up land to curry favour with the Saudis.
http://in.reuters.com/article/egypt-saudi-ties-idINKCN0XA19A
= new reply since forum marked as read
NWO?
Cartoons on social media showed the Sphinx in a traditional Gulf Arab headdress while the front page of Al Maqal newspaper asked: "Are we living the years of the Saudi Republic of Egypt?"
On Twitter, the hashtag "I feel like selling what to Saudi Arabia" trended on Tuesday, with commentators suggesting Egypt flog everything from self-serving lawmakers to Sisi himself.
Beyond the trip's public relations debacle, Sisi faces uncomfortable questions about the future of relations between the two countries as Saudi largesse is shrinking and Egypt appears to have little to offer in return.
------------snip
In a speech, Sisi said Egypt did not want to cause problems with Saudi Arabia by refusing to return its land and repeatedly beseeched his audience to stop questioning the move.
"I'm not taking this issue personally at all ... but please let's not talk about this issue again," he said.
But even Egyptians who were willing to accept the islands as Saudi property were upset that Israel was consulted in advance -- the islands are entangled in Egypt's 1979 peace deal with Israel -- but the Egyptian people and parliament were not.
The announcement was buried at the bottom of a cabinet statement issued late on Saturday, giving the impression that the government had hoped no one would notice.
"What hurts most is the phone call to Tel Aviv that came before everything, and these massive headlines in the most important newspaper in Egypt reassuring Israel before explaining anything to the Egyptian people," prominent journalist Yosri Fouda wrote on his Facbook page.
The next day, King Salman visited parliament, where lawmakers waved the Saudi flag and repeatedly interrupted proceedings with thunderous applause and impromptu poetry recitals. Above the parliament building, next to the Egyptian flag, fluttered the green banner of Saudi Arabia.
