Saudi to build canal to isolate Qatar, turn it into an island

QATAR’S ONLY LAND BORDER IS WITH SAUDI ARABIA, AND IT HAS BEEN CLOSED SINCE JUNE 2017. HOWEVER, QATAR HAS RETAINED SEA AND AIR LINKS TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD..

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is moving forward with a plan to dig a canal that would physically enshrine its yearlong rift with Qatar, turning the emirate from a peninsula bordering the kingdom into an island.

According to Saudi media reports, five international companies that specialise in digging canals were invited to vie for the project. Bids closed on Monday and the winner will be chosen within 90 days, Makkah newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The canal should be completed within one year of work starting, it said.

The project, if it is carried out, would geographically extend Qatar’s isolation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt after they cut trade and diplomatic ties with the emirate last year. The allies accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and meddling in their affairs, charges it denies.

It is ambitious and would turn one of the Middle East’s symbolic divides into a geographic reality. However, it remains unclear whether the canal will actually be dug, or whether it is a mere propaganda tool designed to unsettle Qatar’s residents.

The Saudi embassy in Washington and the Riyadh-based Center for International Communication didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In April, online newspaper Sabq reported that plans for a canal along the Qatar border were still awaiting Saudi government approval. The report said the canal was expected to be 650 feet wide and about 130 feet deep to allow ships to pass. The cost was estimated at 2.8 billion Saudi riyals (approximately $745 million).

Ali Shihabi, founder of the Washington-based Arabia Foundation, said reports about such a channel were probably psychological warfare. “If you create a canal, you do Qatar a favour because you create a ‘moat’ to protect them when now their land borders are fully exposed to Saudi Arabia,” he was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

Bruce Riedel, director of the intelligence project at the Brookings Institution, also said that the aim of the reports was psychological manipulation. The tactic was “failing”, he told the Post.