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The New Arab: Sisi's Land Deal with Bahraini King Sparks Online Anger

2016-10-13 - 6:17 p

Bahrain Mirror: The New Arab news website reported that the Arabic-language hashtag "#WhenHeGoesBrokeHeSells gained traction on Twitter shortly after the news of Egypt's new sale deal with the King of Bahrain became public." This comes as a public criticism to the recent deal allowing the King of Bahrain Hamad Al Khalifa to buy land in the tourist resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh. (https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/10/11/sisis-land-deal-with-bahraini-king-sparks-online-anger)

Activist Alaa Noor tweeted on his twitter account using the aforementioned hashtag, in reference to Sisi, saying "[Sisi] seems to be like a guy who drinks sea water and keeps on getting more and more thirsty. The more he sells the more broke he gets."

The news website further noted that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued a decree allowing Bahrain's king to bypass Egyptian law and buy land in the tourist resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh, sparking anger and mockery among Egyptians.

"The Bahraini king approached the National Agency for the Development of Sinai with an official request to own these properties during his last state visit to Egypt in April. The king spends a part of his summers in Sharm al-Sheikh every year," an Egyptian official told a The New Arab correspondent.

It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian law restricts foreigners and Egyptian dual citizens from owning property in the Sinai.

President Sisi was the one who introduced this law in 2012 while he was the Minister of Defense. The law reportedly aimed at quelling fears that the then-president Mohamad Morsi would sell land to Palestinians in the Sinai close to the Gaza Strip, the New Arab report added.

Since Sisi took power in Egypt following a military coup in 2013 that ousted Morsi, he has cut several controversial deals with Gulf States. Sisi had previously agreed to hand over two Red Sea Island to Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom promised Egypt about $20 billion worth of oil products and $8 billion through its public and sovereign funds, the news website indicated.

Arabic Version    


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