Bin Laden Brother's Ambitious Bridge Project

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052702766.html?hpid=topnews


By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 28, 2008; Page A07

ADEN, Yemen -- Nobody has walked across the Red Sea since Moses parted the waters. But it could happen again under an audacious plan to build the world's longest suspension bridge between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

If built, the bridge would cross the Red Sea at an 18-mile-wide strait known as the Bab al-Mandeb, or Gate of Tears, connecting the southern tip of Yemen with the tiny East African country of Djibouti. Estimated price tag: $10 billion to $20 billion.

The proposal is turning heads in the Middle East, and not just because it would make engineering history. The developer of the project is a Dubai-based firm headed by Tarek bin Laden, an elder brother of the world's most famous terrorist.

The bin Laden family, from Saudi Arabia, has operated a construction empire for decades. In the mid-1990s, the clan cut its financial ties with Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda, around the time he declared war on the United States and called for the overthrow of the Saudi ruling family.

[Muttocracy]

1. Rachel Maddow had a really funny comment about that today

something about her interests in reporting on Al Qaeda and infrastructure coming together in a way she had never imagined.

Puts those Alaskan bridges to shame, eh?

[XemaSab]

2. Wow....

That would certainly avoid any future Egypt/Israel conflicts. :crazy:

[seemslikeadream]

4. Had to show you a seagull photo

or maybe they're not seagulls?




well here's one

[XemaSab]

5. The first photo is of two Least Terns

They're ADORABLE... about the size of a robin. And they're always doing cute things like giving tiny, tiny fish to each other. I am not usually one to "SQUEEE" about birds, but they're just DEAR.

The second photo looks like Black-headed Gulls in winter plumage, so they don't actually show their black heads. They're mostly Eurasian, but rarely visit the US.

Thanks for the photos! :hi:

[ClayZ]

3. K and R