SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS IN THE GULF OF AQABA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00979A000100010004-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 2, 2000
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 25, 1957
• Content Type: REPORT

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TARING
This riai Contains infoamtiof affecting
the national defense of the tlx:{i1 d States vii i
the meaning of the eopiouage IA'ff3p Title 18, ?C
Seas, (93 and 7' : the transmission or revelation
of aioh in any mater to an wauthorized pereon
is p 'ohi'o1 d by law.
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and Say .
C, e; e itoria.1 Waters in the Gulf of Aqaba . > . 4 a
? C ents on p Enclosures w a e. * r o..
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oro.
h material in this report has been drama from they rs pertinent
of the sources avail fable on e short notice. ALthoug% it we been compiled
by persons fa ,iliac with the area and the subject, the report does not
represent a policy sta' nt by the United States Goverment or wW
Depe . .nt thereof.
o precise jt nts have been rendered regarding the sovereignty of
the Islands of Tiren a San 'ir or on the extent of territorial waters in
the Strait of .ran or the half of Aqaba, nor is there a comwanly accepted
body of thought regarding these issues.
Records indicating the stag of Tiren Senafir in the transfer of
territory at the dull of the Ottoman Empire are not ava l:ble, a
there Is no evidence of the exercise of sovereignty (as differentiated
from control) over the islands before or since that time. So document
defined the domain of Thd Saud when he became ruler of the Hejaz in 11Y26.
The intermittent Egyptian occupation, which began In 1950,; has not resulted
in a sovereignty claim.
The decrees concerning the sovereign territory of Saudi Arabia and
F4gpt,, issued Independently by the two countries, raise a point of conflict
as to territorial claims In the Gulf of Aqaba; but both decrees state that
territorial differences will be amicably settlL4 by the parties involved.
date, no such discussions are known to have taken place. The Strait of
Tiran at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba is conrsidered by the United States
and Great Britain to be an international saterway. Four nations front on
the Gulf of Aqaba. Traditionally, access to such a gulf cannot be denied
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to one nation by any one or more nonbelligerent tions.* viem
o the 1949 ti atice, the, United lotions i ndioater>d in 1951 that Egypt
Israel are nonbelllg ente~ that Pm p
t kwd. no right to halt ships
bound. for Israel. Egypt, however., does not recognize the United
ti.Q a e jai?i;ion on this point and claims the right as a belligerent to
halt akaippi bound for Darnel through the Suez Canal or the Gulf of Ageba..
In addition, Enterprise Chaxannl and Grafton Channel,, both in the Strait of
'bran:, are within miles of the Sinai coast, and are claimed, as ti-
torl waters by p t. It is possible that the question of eoverei,ty
in the Gulf of Aqaba will re in unsettled until such time as the question
is the subject of an intentional court decision.. -
sew peaahei , International Law -- A Treatise, Vol. 1, 8th
ition, edited, by t $, Nev York, 1955.
P. 508- ...and, further, as a rule, all gulfs andbays enclosed by the
land of more tbAw one littoral State, however narrow their entrance -y be,
are non-territorial. "k
Footnote 4: "This is not uncontested. A few writers -- see, for
instance, Twiss sf 181 -- assert that n : gulfs .ate bays surrounded by the
land of two different States are territorial, the central line dividing
the .territorial por4ions. .ovever, the auJority of writersdo not accept
this opinion, and It could sem that the practice of States likewise
-rejects them."
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ii:- n and S nruf Ir
A A. The at tur of Tiran and. Sannfir in the Ott own moire is not
2owa~o. No mesmtion of these is s has b found in documuts dealing
e th transfer of territory during the disintegration of the Empire. It
pro`oeble th t, i esaxch au free access to the Gulf of Aqaba was not
econtested. etron,y at that time, these uninhabited Islas a were
of de=.i worthy of specific definition.
B. On 7 y 1936, 1gyp ; w id Saudi Arabia signed a Treat of
y;'a i ndship in Cairo in Which it as weed that the two countries would
,_:;;. scuae -D ob1 s of : ?>atual coucernr including mar-4-ti-me problems, at the
r1iest cossibl a date. Pres iy, conflicting interests in the Gulf of
Aga- wouldil have entered any sue} discussions, but no evidence has been
e: gun to indicate that these discussions did in fact take place
Docents on International Affairs, 1937, edited by St en .Heald,
Royal Institute of international Affairs,, Word Uui*:rersity Press, London,
1939s nP. 528-5-10)
C. In l9.9; the Bnbaas;ir in Cairo addressed a request to OLI/ ! in
ward an is Lion al. ndaxy between Hirai and Tiran that appeared
M_Yn ACS Chart 7A4. CO could find no information to support the accuracy
of any international boundary line in that area and advise. the Embassy
Chal, no international boundary i ne would be shown at the mouth of the
_ I1f of Aqaba on future editions of the chart. It i s further Indicated
this timae that "It is possible that ftyp$ and Saudi Arabia have never
ettled the question of saver-eighty over s fret Tiran and adjacent
i. a l a s" (OLT/M reply to Ai r rai A-938, dated 19 October 1949).
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.y1A ~a troc )s accupie A. Tina a rd Sn ".r Isla i ; pr?o s sl,~, in
Date January 1950, after 3 discussion of possible occupation h. . comp:
before the Israeli Parlt nt (Cairo, Dsp. so. T8, 1 FebrU "y 1950; and
IBM., 27 February 1950, Pte,.) .
E. An Aide4! ire from the tiara Foreign Office to the United
States Embassy in Cairo, dated 28 January 1950, confirms its claims a
those of Saudi Arabia to the Islands and states that occupation of the
isl ds by Z tiara troops is an accomplished fact. No conclusion on
respective territorial clalms can be drawn from this docu' rat (Cairo,
lisp. No. 148p 1 February 1950).
F. Tel Aviv radio reported on 26 February 1950 that a Unite. Press
release datelined Cairo carried a statement that Than was within the
territorial, waters of FWpt and that Sonsfir belonged to Saudi Arabia
(FBIS 27 February 1950, PPE )
C. 1o ^ithsteadi the occupation of the islands by -ptian troops.,
the United States ssador in Cairo stated that the bow dxy line
between the islands of Tiran and Samf on the one - the mainland
of Saudi Arabia on the other has not been officially conf;tr ad (Cairo,
Dsp. No. 1317, 7 June 1950).
U. Territorial Waters in the, Gulf of Aqaba
A. Decrees concerning delimitation of territorial waters Were
issued by Saudi Arabia on 28 y 19)49 and by l pt on 18 January 1951.
The two are substantially the saes. Both decrees claim 6 mile terri-
torial waters., claim sovereignty over islands within 12 miles of the
i inlanii, aw" state that mutual agreement shall decide sovereignty in
cases sere territorial waters of neighboring nations overlap. Protests
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were vade by Great f3A itath w,e he United StE tied 9 44ho have @9y adi biobfn11y
c l a i m e d territorial limit of 3 miles. !Co record is available of
discussions be een a' t and Saudi Arabic dealing with the. Gulf of
Aqaba as a ? result of these decrees (Cairo Day. Tio. 1719, 20 J ury 1951;
Cairo D . ITo. 2795, 25 Way 1951; and Cairo Dep. rTo. 2880) 4 June 1951).
B. Th Aide-Wmofre from the Egyptian Foreign Office, dated
P8 Janua 1950, concludes by stating that peaceful navigation of the
water lying between the islands of Titan and San 'ir on the one hand and
the Sinai Peninsula on the other viii be unh pared (Cairo Dap. No 1A8,
1. February 1950).
C The British ship 1 spi. Roach was stops by an Egyptian ` pry
vessel, miles SOW of the entrance to Enterprise Channel at the mouth of
the Gulf of Aqaba an 1 July 1951.
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D. In October 195k, Egypt claim the Gulf of Suez as territorial
eater on the basis of the Royal Decree of 18 January 1.951. Article 7
-c ds as follows:
If the measurement of the territorial waters in accordance with
the provisions of this decree leaves as area of high sea wholly
. eurrouuded by territorial waters and extending not more than
twelve nautical miles in any direction, such area shall form part
of the territorial waters. The amp. rule shall apply to as pro-
nounccd pocket of high sea Which may be wholly enclosed by draw-
i ag, a single straight line not more than twelve nautical miles
long.
This star wat shows the determination of Egypt to apply the letter
of the decree on territorial waters and to situations within her control,
but it indicates a hesitation to approach Saudi Arabia regards a pre-
oolse settlement of territorial interests in the Gulf of Aqaba by failing
to mention that water body specifically.
X. In :955, Jordan issued regulations regarding shipping in the
Gull' of Aqaba. These regulations show marked similarity to Etyptien
claims; and it is to be assumed that Jordsan, by issuing them, recognized
Rapt" s authority at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba.
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: t. Co ,e tf on n ap losures
`,moo following charts and maps acce a xy this peer:
A. U.S. Navy ographic Mice Chart No. 2812, Red SeT,_!jUeZ
.,o the Brothers iuclu . the Gulf of Aqabap at ap+ xia teiy
t
l:6 6 W.. 3 h xis to i variow T r es .
S. British Admiralty Chart No. 3 a sx -ours _ A O Ws
the Red , compose. of insets at 1ous scales.
C. The largest scale may coverage av,silsb1e for the entire Gulf
of Aqaba., consisting of 3 sheets of the U.S. AxW Hap Service
1:250,000,, Series P502 and 3 sheets of the 1:250,0, Series
"02
D. Overlay of the Gulf of Aqmbs based on these 2 series at
1:250;,000- The overlay is provided to irs icate the location of the
3-mile and 6 -mile lines mentioned in the text. The envelope thod
'sus used in developing both of these lines. The lack of precise data
sakes it impossible to plot limits of sovereignty at the mouth and at
the head of the Gulf of Aq . So attempt was made to plot a median
line in the Gulf of Aqaba.
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