HC Deb 27 February 1957 vol 565 c168W
57. Mr. Pitman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs which sovereign State is recognised by Her Majesty's Government as having sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Gulf of Aqaba; whether any other State has laid official claim to sovereignty over these islands; and by which other States such a claim is supported.

67. Mr. Reeves

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to which State do Her Majesty's Government recognise the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Gulf of Aqaba as belonging; whether any other State has laid official claim to sovereignty over these islands; and by which other states is such a claim supported.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

In the view of Her Majesty's Government, the status of these islands has not yet been finally determined. They were occupied by Egypt in January, 1950. The Egyptian Government, when informing Her Majesty's Government of the occupation, stated that it had been carried out with the full agreement of the Saudi Arabian Government in order to protect the interests of the two countries. Egyptian forces were withdrawn from the islands during the recent operations and on 6th November, 1956, it was announced in Tel Aviv that Israel had annexed Tiran.