Saudi promises "security fence" along Iraq border

KUWAIT, Nov 14 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia will next year start work on a planned security fence stretching 900 km along its border with Iraq to prevent Islamic militants from entering Saudi Arabia, a minister said in comments published today.

The cost for the project, including military bases and surveillance equipment, could reach 12 billion dollars, Interior Minister Prince Nayef told Kuwait's al-Anbaa daily in an interview.

Saudi Arabia is worried that, three years after the US-led invasion to bring down Saddam Hussein, sectarian violence between Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs could lead to civil war and the eventual break-up of its neighbour.

''A border fence separating us from Iraq has become essentialto protect security ... I expect work will begin on the border fence next year,'' the minister, a key Saudi royal, said.

''Saudi Arabia has begun taking steps to build the longest security fence stretching 900 km along the length of the Iraq border to stop terrorists getting into our territory,'' he said.

''The cost could extend to 12 billion dollars, including 500 million dollars to build the fence itself which should be finished in five or six years,'' he added.

The government earlier this year invited bids to provide security systems along the border.

But it is not clear if the barrier will be a concrete wall in the form of Israel's barrier against Palestinians in the occupied territories, or a less solid structure.

Israel began building what is to be a 670-km long barrier in the West Bank in 2002, describing it as a security measure to stop suicide bombers from infiltrating its cities.

Saudis are among many Arabs who have gone to Iraq to join the Sunni insurgency against US forces and the US-backed government, dominated by Shi'ites.

Al Qaeda, which is part of the Sunni insurgency, also wants to topple the US- allied Saudi monarchy and Saudi Arabia has seen a series of militant attacks since 2003.

''All of Iraq's neighbours are suffering directly from what is happening in Iraq. Because international forces are fighting a vicious war against terrorist groups and to prevent a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shi'ites, they cannot control the border,'' said the minister.

REUTERS MS VC1625