Saudi Arabia has unveiled a 900km multi-layered fence along its border with Iraq, as part of efforts to secure the kingdom's vast desert frontiers against infiltrators and smugglers, state media SPA has said. King Abdullah announced the launch of the first stage of the border security programme late on Friday, which stretches from Hafar al-Batin, near the Iraq-Kuwait border to the northeast town of Turaif close to Jordan.

The project, which includes five layers of fencing equipped with watch towers, night-vision cameras and 50 radars is aimed at cutting the "number of infiltrators, drug, arms and cattle smugglers to zero", SPA said. The border programme, which was first discussed in 2006, came amid growing concern over neighbouring Iraq's deteriorating security situation. In 2009, Riyadh signed a deal with European aerospace and defence contractors EADS to secure the Iraq border, but with increasing fears over infiltration by anti-government groups and al-Qaeda, the interior ministry expanded the scope to cover all the country's borders.