Saudi Arabia THREATEN to cut off Qatar with BORDER MOAT as Middle East tensions rise

The $750m project, which is still awaiting official approval, would be funded by Saudi and Emirati investors, and could be completed in as little as 12 months by Egyptian construction companies with experience building the Suez Canal.

The project can be seen as an extension of hostilities between the two nations, which commenced last June when Saudi Arabia launched a sea, air and land blockade on its smaller neighbour along with Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE.

The conflict arose over grievances surrounding Qatar’s supposed relations with Iran, its funding of the news network Al-Jazeera, and its reported funding of Muslim Brotherhood groups around the world.

The canal, which would be located between the Salwa and Khawr al-Udayd regions of Saudi Arabia, would further strengthen the blockade imposed on Qatar by ending land trade and allowing ships to bypass the emirate entirely.

This may be seen as an attempt to further reduce trade to Qatar and force the country to acquiesce to Saudi Arabia’s demands.

The waterway, which would reportedly be 15 to 20 metres deep, would be able to be accessed by container ships, tankers, along with cruise ships.

The project is consequently being billed as a new economic hub for the country, which is seeking to diversify its economy away from an over-dependence on oil as part of its Saudi Vision 2030 initiative.

Plans for a series of five-star hotels and resorts along the canal, along with a number of ports and a free trade zone have been proposed.

Questions have however arisen over whether such a project would receive sufficient demand, as the proposed location is in a sparsely populated region, far from major urban areas.

A key source of tourism from Qatar has also been shut off due to the ongoing blockade between the two nations.

Yet beyond commercial and tourist facilities, the project will also reportedly feature a military zone with a one kilometre exclusion zone along the Qatar border.

The Saudi Gazette commented on this proposal, saying: “The canal will nullify all the land borders, and it will be purely Saudi territories for a length of 1km from the official border with the State of Qatar.

“This will make the terrestrial area adjacent to Qatar a military zone for protection and monitoring.”

It remains unclear as to how serious or developed these plans are, and many commentators view them as propaganda from Saudi Arabia in its ongoing campaign against Qatar.

Despite pressures from Saudi Arabia, Qatar has rejected a number of demands made on the nation, including closing news broadcasters Al-Jazeers and The New Arab.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, HE Lulwah Rashid al-Khater, said the measures taken by the quartet amount to an “economic war”.

She stressed that while Qatar hopes the issues can be resolved through diplomatic channels and dialogue, all efforts will be made to ensure that people adversely affected by the blockade get redress.