Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Saudi Arabia to build fence along Iraq border
Security, Region
In a sign of regional concern over terrorism, Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead with plans to build a fence along its entire 900 kilometer (560 mile) border with Iraq to prevent terrorists from entering the kingdom from the chaotic north. The barrier, which will likely take five to six years to complete, is part of a US$12 billion package of measures including electronic sensors, bases and physical barriers to protect the oil-rich kingdom from external threats, said Nawaf Obaid, head of the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, an independent research institute that provides security advice to the Saudi government.
All of Iraq’s neighbours, including the Saudis, fear that violence could spill over the borders and threaten their own security. For the Saudis, those threats could come from Saudi militants returning home to continue the struggle against the pro-US monarchy or from Shiite extremists seeking to stir up trouble among the country’s Shiite minority.
Since 2004, Saudi Arabia has spent about US$1.8 billion to shore up its defenses along the border with Iraq.
US and Iraqi officials have long complained about Saudi extremists crossing into Iraq — mostly through Syria — to join the battle against American and coalition forces.
In addition to political extremists, the Saudis want to prevent drug smugglers, weapons dealers and illegal migrants from using Iraq as an avenue into Saudi Arabia, Obaid said. The spokesman for Iraq’s Interior Ministry, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said Iraqi officials had heard of the Saudi plans to improve border security “and we thank them for it.” Obaid said contracts for work on the fence, expected to cost about US$500 million, have not been awarded and work is not expected to begin before next year.
US officials said last April that Saudis were among the top five nationalities among foreign fighters captured by coalition forces in Iraq. Twenty-three Saudis were arrested in Iraq between September 2005 and April, compared with 51 Syrians and 38 Egyptians, US officials said earlier this year. But the fence would do little to stop that flow because most are believed to enter Iraq by going through Syria, Jordan and Iran.
The Saudis are especially sensitive to the possibility of unrest among the country’s Shiite minority because it is centered in the oil-producing east of the country. In another sign of Saudi concern over sectarian tensions, the kingdom plans to host a meeting next month of top Iraqi Sunni and Shiite clerics in the holy city of Mecca in hopes of bringing the two sects together.
All of Iraq’s neighbours, including the Saudis, fear that violence could spill over the borders and threaten their own security. For the Saudis, those threats could come from Saudi militants returning home to continue the struggle against the pro-US monarchy or from Shiite extremists seeking to stir up trouble among the country’s Shiite minority.
Since 2004, Saudi Arabia has spent about US$1.8 billion to shore up its defenses along the border with Iraq.
US and Iraqi officials have long complained about Saudi extremists crossing into Iraq — mostly through Syria — to join the battle against American and coalition forces.
In addition to political extremists, the Saudis want to prevent drug smugglers, weapons dealers and illegal migrants from using Iraq as an avenue into Saudi Arabia, Obaid said. The spokesman for Iraq’s Interior Ministry, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said Iraqi officials had heard of the Saudi plans to improve border security “and we thank them for it.” Obaid said contracts for work on the fence, expected to cost about US$500 million, have not been awarded and work is not expected to begin before next year.
US officials said last April that Saudis were among the top five nationalities among foreign fighters captured by coalition forces in Iraq. Twenty-three Saudis were arrested in Iraq between September 2005 and April, compared with 51 Syrians and 38 Egyptians, US officials said earlier this year. But the fence would do little to stop that flow because most are believed to enter Iraq by going through Syria, Jordan and Iran.
The Saudis are especially sensitive to the possibility of unrest among the country’s Shiite minority because it is centered in the oil-producing east of the country. In another sign of Saudi concern over sectarian tensions, the kingdom plans to host a meeting next month of top Iraqi Sunni and Shiite clerics in the holy city of Mecca in hopes of bringing the two sects together.
