Saudi boosts UAE border checks: reports

Saudi Arabia has boosted checks at its border with the UAE, causing long traffic queues in the scorching desert heat, local media said on Thursday, amid reports Riyadh wants to crack down on alcohol and drug smuggling.

The increased border security also comes amid strained ties between the two neighbours over the choice of Saudi Arabia rather than the UAE as the site for a future joint Gulf central bank.

Truck drivers stranded on the UAE's western border said the Saudi authorities has started requiring fingerprint tests almost a month ago, adding to the security procedures and resulting in bottlenecks as long as 24 kilometres (15 miles), the Gulf News reported.

Mostly low-paid labour workers from Southeast Asia, the drivers described the situation as "unbearable" since they don't have access to food, water or restrooms, Gulf News said.

"The nearest cafeteria is five kilometres away. We can't take our trucks there and it is too hot to walk," Irfan, an Indian driver, told the paper.

Mohammed Al Muhairy, general manager of UAE Federal Customs Authority, said that Riyad had raised the issue of narcotics and alcohol being smuggled into the kingdom from the UAE, the Khaleej Times reported.

Gulf News also said Saudi security officials had attributed the new procedures to heightened security measures to crack down on drug trafficking.

The two Gulf states have been embroiled in a row over the location of a pan-Gulf central bank, which had been decided to be based in Riyadh, much to the dismay of the UAE, home to trade and tourism hub Dubai.

The two largest Arab economies are scheduled to discuss cross-border trade at a meeting in Riyadh on June 20, Khaleej Times said, saying that as many as 10,000 trucks were queuing on the UAE side of the border last week.

Trade between the UAE and Saudi has increased more than ten-fold since 2000 to 54.48 billion dirhams (14.8 billion dollars) in 2008, it said.

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