(MENAFN) A Saudi newspaper has claimed that the kingdom is considering building a canal across its border with Qatar, effectively making the peninsular state an island.
Sabq said that planners are still on hold until they receive an official permission to begin construction of a canal, but the project could be completed in just a year at a cost of USD750 million.
Designs suggest it would be 60km in length, 200 metres wide and between 15 and 20 meters deep, cutting Qatar off from its southern neighbor.
"[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," Saudi Gazette also reported.
In early June, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East, while Qatar, for its part, slammed the measures as unjustified, denied the accusations, and described attempts to diplomatically isolate it as a violation of international law and its national sovereignty.
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