CAIRO: Egypt on Sunday denied there were any plans to build a causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Sharm El-Sheikh, saying such a project would be bad for tourism in the popular the Red Sea resort. On May 3, the Saudi English-language daily Arab News reported that the construction of a three-billion-dollar causeway linking the Saudi region of Tabuk to Egypt would begin in 10 days. But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak denied the existence of such a plan, telling the state-owned Al-Messa that a causeway at the entrance of Sharm El-Sheikh would harm tourism and would also be a security threat. A causeway piercing through Sharm El-Sheikh would cause damage to a number of hotels and tourism establishments, Mubarak told the daily. It would harm the calm nature (of the place) and its security which would force tourists to go elsewhere, and this is something I will never accept. Arab News said the 50 km causeway would link Ras Humaid in the northern Saudi region of Tabuk to Sharm El-Sheikh, the popular diving resort which attracts millions of tourists every year. The paper said Saudi King Abdullah would lay the foundation stone of the causeway which will link the continents of Asia and Africa. It said interest in the project was revived after an Egyptian ferry sailing from Saudi Arabia to Egypt sank in the Red Sea in February 2006 with the loss of about 1,000 lives. The project, which would create a new route for trade, tourists and pilgrims, has been on the drawing board for the past 20 years. The idea was initiated by the late King Fahd but it was later dropped by the Saudis, Mubarak said, adding that he rejects the idea in principle. Some 50,000 to 70,000 Egyptians go on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and an estimated 1.2 million Egyptians work in Saudi Arabia or in other Gulf states, mainly in construction.
