World News

22057 readers

46 users here now

Breaking news from around the world.

News that is American but has an international facet may also be posted here.

Guidelines for submissions:

Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
Social media should be a source of last resort.

These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.

For US News, see the US News community.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

'Neom' project: Forces in Saudi Arabia 'told to kill' to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, ex-intelligence officer says (www.bbc.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

The area where Neom is being built has been described as the perfect "blank canvas" by Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. But more than 6,000 people have been moved for the project according to his government - and UK-based human rights group ALQST estimates the figure to be higher.

Col Alenezi, who went into exile in the UK last year, says the clearance order he was asked to enact was for al-Khuraybah, an area with villages that were mostly populated by the Huwaitat tribe, who have inhabited the Tabuk region in the country's north-west for generations.

He said the April 2020 order stated the Huwaitat was made up of "many rebels" and "whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home".

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I read that in the voice of Jackie Chiles. Along with 'Yet another of my embarrassing architectural failures'.