CAIRO Prominent Egyptian political parties on Thursday criticized President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's plan to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia and urged people to take to the streets in protest.
Parliament voted on Wednesday to back a treaty to hand over the two uninhabited islands of Tiran and Sanfir and Sisi is expected to ratify the decision soon.
The plan to cede the islands to Saudi Arabia, which has given Egypt billions of dollars of aid, was first announced last year and has since become mired in political protest and legal action.
The Social Democratic Party, along with several other parties and groups, called for protests on Friday.
Thousands of people backed a Facebook page named "Giving up land is treason," which urges people to protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. It shows a box full of Saudi cash, which it describes as the title deeds for the islands.
Opponents of the plan say Egypt's sovereignty over the islands dates back to 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.
