DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has plans to dig a canal the length of its border with Gulf rival Qatar, to turn the peninsula into an island and further isolate it, Saudi media have said. “The project is to be funded entirely by Saudi and Emirati private sector investment - under full Saudi authority,” Sabq Online Newspaper reported on Monday. The planned “Salwa Canal” is to be dug by Egyptian companies, benefiting from the “Egyptian experience” in widening the Suez Canal, adding 60 km to the Saudi coastline. The canal would measure 15-20 m deep and 200 m wide, allowing for the passage of merchant ships. Saudi Al-Riyadh newspaper went further, claiming the project includes plans for a dump which would be filled with waste from nuclear reactors which the kingdom and the UAE plan on building. - AFP