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Tuesday, October 2, 2007      New: Take a Stand

Saudis' border wall to have facial recognition, radar, motion sensors

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia plans to build a high tech wall along the border with Iraq with state-of-the-art security systems.

"The project will be carried out following the most modern international specifications," Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.

"The protection line will represent two rows of barbed wire equipped with the newest radar and infrared viewing devices," Al Turki said.

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Officials said the security barrier would contain a 100-meter no-entry zone, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the barrier would include ultraviolet sensors, facial recognition devices and buried motion detectors. The project would also construct command posts, helipads and observation towers.

"The project will be carried out following the most modern international specifications," Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.

Officials said the Interior Ministry would oversee a $1.1 billion project to construct a security barrier along the 900-kilometer border with Iraq. They said the barrier would be equipped with advanced electronic sensors.

"The contract for building the fence will be awarded soon, God willing," Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said on Sept. 17.

Officials said local and international companies were invited to submit bids for the border wall tender. They said the project was part of a $9 billion effort to enhance security along all 6,500 kilometers of the Saudi border.

The companies competing for the Interior Ministry tender included France's Thales, Britain's BAE Systems and the U.S. firm Raytheon. Officials said the ministry could begin issuing contracts over the next few months, with project completion envisioned in 2010.

Al Turki said the border wall with Iraq would be mostly completed by 2009. So far, five Saudi companies — including Saudi Bin Laden Group, Saudi Oger, Al Saif Engineering and Construction — were invited to bid. The deadline for bid submission was set at Oct. 28.

Saudi Arabia has already constructed a six-meter tall berm and established a 10-kilometer security zone along the Iraqi frontier. The Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [MIKSA] project, which has not yet been awarded, would encompass a command, control, communications, computers and intelligence [C4I] network as well as fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

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