Saudi authorities ordered troops to shoot dead villagers who refused to leave their homes to make way for the construction of a 106-mile-long megacity, an exiled Saudi intelligence officer has claimed.
Colonel Rabih Alenezi, who has taken refuge in the UK to protect himself from reprisals, claims that at least one villager was killed and several more imprisoned after refusing to give up their land to build the futuristic desert city known as ‘The Line’. ‘.
The mammoth company is the brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman and the centerpiece of NEOM, an ambitious $1 trillion project that seeks to transform the Saudi desert into a new world eco-city that “redefines the way people live.” people”, diversifying the The UK economy moves away from oil in the process.
The Line, which will take the form of two mirror-clad skyscrapers stretching 106 miles across the desert, is supposed to have a population of one million by 2030 with a long-term capacity of nine million residents.
But Bloomberg reported earlier this year that only 300,000 people are expected to live there by the end of the decade, and only 1.6 miles of skyscrapers will likely have been completed.
Saudi Arabia has been forced to scale back its $1.5 trillion plans for a 106-mile linear desert city (in concept images), according to a Bloomberg report.
The Line is seen in a concept video released by Saudi Arabia, showing the two massive structures stretching into the distance.
Colonel Rabih Alenezi, who has taken refuge in the UK to protect himself from reprisals, says at least one villager was killed and several more imprisoned after refusing to give up their land.
Aerial footage shows construction work on Saudi linear city project
The designs show bright neon lights in the city of the future that could be completed by 2030 if construction goes as planned.
Conceptual images show the imagined view between The Line’s two superstructures.
Saudi Prince Mohamed bin Salman
Bin Salman has previously said that Saudi Arabia’s vast desert provides the perfect “blank canvas” on which to build The Line.
Computer renderings of the project reveal a sight to behold: a pair of enormous metal and glass structures stretching endlessly across sandy plains filled with futuristic-looking homes, shops and gardens, with a new marina that welcomes vessels from all corners of the world. balloon.
But Colonel Alenezi disputes the claim.
The colonel said he had been tasked with leading a unit to clear several villages to make way for excavators and bulldozers to prepare the ground for construction in al-Khuraybah, in the Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia, in the spring of 2020.
These villages were home to thousands of Huwaitat tribesmen.
Colonel Alenezi said the April 2020 order described the Huwaitat as “rebels” and went on to state that “whoever continues to resist [eviction] “They were to be killed, so he authorized the use of lethal force against anyone who remained in his house.”
He said he only managed to avoid carrying out his orders for trumped-up medical reasons, but said the mission went ahead anyway.
One villager, Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, was shot dead after refusing to allow authorities to value his house, while hundreds of other villagers were imprisoned.
“Mohamed Bin Salman will not let anything stand in the way of the construction of Neom… I began to worry more about what I might be asked to do with my own people,” he told the bbc.
His statements coincide with investigations into the NEOM project carried out by the Saudi human rights group ALQST, which last year published a dossier publishing its findings.
“Saudi authorities have committed a wide range of serious human rights abuses,” the report states.
‘ALQST’s investigation has concluded that to carry out this project, Saudi authorities illegally displaced local tribes without adequate compensation or offering alternative housing, and violently repressed tribesmen who peacefully opposed or resisted the eviction.
‘Since the notorious murder of local resident Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti in a special forces raid on his home in 2020, ALQST has documented the arbitrary detentions and unfair trials of other tribesmen, several of whom have been convicted. recently to long prison terms. prison sentences or even execution.’
MailOnline has contacted NEOM for comment.
The Line has been presented as a new vision of urban design, with computer-generated promotional material that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
The metropolis seems invisible, floating above a marina, in a confusing artistic impression of the plans.
In a promotional video released by the Kingdom, it was suggested that nine million people could live on The Line (pictured in concept art) at full capacity.
The Line, part of the country’s bold and futuristic NEOM project, was to be 106 miles long and home to 1.5 million residents by the end of the decade. According to Bloomberg, plans have been scaled back and the line will now be just 1.5 miles long.
NEOM as a whole remains one of the largest and most difficult construction projects in history (the region will cover a swath of desert the size of Belgium) and, as such, its viability has been called into question.
Architect and urban planner Etienne Bou-Abdo said last year of the bold concept images: “The 3D images presented are not classic 3D architectural images,” and the project’s designers “have rather turned to video game designers.”
He stated that the plan includes “a lot of technology that we don’t have today.”
After interviewing 25 employees and reviewing 2,700 pages of internal documents, a Bloomberg Report in 2022 He said the project had been plagued by setbacks.
Attempts to relocate the indigenous population who have lived at the NEOM site for generations were reported to have been “tumultuous”, with one incident even leading to a shooting.
There has also been frequent staff turnover, with some former workers describing NEOM’s vision as “detached from reality.”
Several key employees have resigned, blaming a toxic work environment and a culture of massive overspending without seeing results.
Construction of some of NEOM’s more extravagant elements must now also be balanced with other obligations, including construction work ahead of FIFA World Cup 2034.
Saudi Arabia has a decade to build the necessary stadiums and increase its accommodation and transportation capacity, while attempting to meet NEOM goals.
Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said priority would likely be given to projects linked to specific events.
“The Saudis were not going to be able to move indefinitely at 100 miles per hour in all directions on the development front,” he said, adding that Riyadh needs consistent and sustainable growth in foreign investment from various sectors.
“It’s no secret that they haven’t gotten it yet.”
