An ex-intelligence officer tells the BBC he was permitted to shoot dead those resisting eviction.

Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project.

One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction.

The Saudi government and Neom management refused to comment.

Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.

Its flagship project, The Line, has been pitched as a car-free city, just 200m (656ft) wide and 170km (106 miles) long - though only 2.4km of the project is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030.

  • @barsquidEnglish
    1•8 months ago

    Public transit sounds also easier as a grid or something if you are able to plan it beforehand.

    Unless part of the point is to keep all the poors at one end. They will be reluctant to travel very far daily so the wealthy won’t have to look at them. Servants will have to travel, I guess. Maybe servants come from the middle section.