Saudi Arabia released on Sunday 35 Egyptian fishermen who were arrested 37 days ago for violating its territorial waters.
"The decision to release the fishermen came after I paid a fine of 15 thousand riyals to the Saudi authorities," Mohammed Rashad, owner of the detained fishing boat, told Aswat Masriya.
Rashad said that the fishermen left Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning and are expected to arrive in Egypt during this week.
Coastguards arrested the fishermen in February for violating the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia and fishing there without a permit.
Rashad called upon the Prime Minister to sign a fishing cooperation treaty between Egypt and other countries to end problems of fishermen with neighboring countries.
Egyptian fishermen are frequently found fishing illegally in territorial waters of neighboring countries such as Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
