CAIRO, Jan 2 (Aswat Masriya) - Few people were arrested after staging a protest in front of the press syndicate on Monday against referring Egyptian-Saudi maritime demarcation agreement to the Parliament.

Security source told Aswat Masriya that security forces arrested a number of protesters, and blocked Abdel Khalek Tharwat street.

On Thursday, the cabinet passed the agreement to the Parliament after approval.

The agreement transfers the maritime sovereignty over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia; Tiran and Sanafir. It was signed in early April 2016 during King Salman bin Abdul Aziz visit to Cairo.

The agreement triggered widespread anger which manifested in two waves of protests in mid-April, and on 25 April. Lawsuit was filed at the state council administrative court by several lawyers in a bid to prove the Egyptian sovereignty over the islands.

Lawyer Malek Adly wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday that the transferal of the agreement to the parliament is unconstitutional. “The cabinet does not have the authority to sign agreements related to land sovereignty according to the 2014 constitution,” he said.

In late June 2016, the state council administrative court issued a first-degree verdict that annuls the agreement. However, the State Lawsuit Authority filed an appeal against the verdict, and the court scheduled 16 January to issue a final verdict.