Saudi Arabia will next year start work on a planned security fence stretching 900 km along its border with Iraq to prevent militants from entering Saudi Arabia, a minister said in comments published on Tuesday.
The cost for the project, including military bases and surveillance equipment, could reach $12 billion, 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 Shia 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 essential to 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 (560 miles) along the length of the Iraq border to stop terrorists getting into our territory," he said.
"The cost could extend to $12 billion, including $500 million 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.