Riyadh retenders Iraq border fence

  • Published: 06 July 2007 17:00
  • Last Updated: 06 July 2007 17:00

Saudi Arabia has reinvited bids for the first-phase contract to build a 900-kilometre-long security fence along its northern border with Iraq.

The double-lined fence will include state-of-the-art, computer-controlled surveillance equipment, manned watch­towers and electronic gates. It forms part of the multi-billion-dollar Miksa (Ministry of the Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) project to install a radar-based system for detecting incursions across the kingdom's 6,500-kilometre-long border.

Separate packages within the 12-year Miksa project are expected to cover Yemen border security, helicopters and heliports, land vehicles and vehicle bases, project management and maintenance.

The Defence & Aviation Ministry contract for the northern border fence was originally tendered to local contractors in early 2006,with Al-Arrab Contracting entering the lowest bid, but the deal was withdrawn in September for further consultation (MEED 15:9:06).

The deadline for the submission of bids on the latest tender is 9 September, with prices due to open a day later. A northern border fence has been under consideration in the kingdom since the mid-1990s, but the violence in Iraq has added urgency to the issue.

In November last year, Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz described Iraq as the main base for terrorism in the region, and said the fence was a means to prevent fighters, drug dealers and weapons smugglers entering Saudi Arabia.

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