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.