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A former Saudi Arabian intelligence officer is claiming that the national government is killing individuals for refusing eviction ahead of construction of a futuristic eco-city.
Colonel Rabih Alenezi, who was taken into protection by the United Kingdom last year, told the BBC that lethal force has been approved for clearing residents from land sanctioned for the Neom development project.
"Whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home," Alenezi told the BBC.
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Satellite image of NEOM Construction progress. The Line is a linear 170km smart megacity project currently in development in Saudi Arabia. (Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2023)
The region is mostly populated by the Huwaitat tribe, who have suffered mass-arrests and crackdowns for not complying with eviction orders.
Multiple villages have already been torn down in pursuit of furthering the Neom project, an eco-friendly urban development program heavily funded by Western nations.
"[Neom] is the centerpiece of Mohamed Bin Salman's ideas," Alenezi reportedly told the BBC. "That's why he was so brutal in dealing with the Huwaitat."
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Businessmen watch an on-screen presentation of Saudi Arabia's The Line project at MIPIM in Cannes, France. (Laurent Coust/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A main pillar of the Neom project is "The Line," a proposed eco-city without the need of automotive vehicles.
The 106-mile metropolis will be arranged in the titular "line" layout with public transportation allowing quick travel through the skinny urban area.
Saudi prime minister Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman has focused his attention and vast resources on the project, with hopes its completion will mark a new era in the modernization of his father's kingdom.
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Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia takes his seat ahead of a working lunch at the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C. for comment and has not yet received a response.
The Neom project and its Line city are both part of the nation's Saudi Vision 2030 agenda.
Just a little over two kilometers of The Line are expected to be completed by 2030, with further construction to continue throughout the decade.