Osama bin Laden's half-brother is planning to build the world's second longest bridge to connect Africa and Arabia with a six-lane motorway and a railway.
Tarek Bin Laden has been wooing the governments of Djibouti and Yemen with his £35bn idea to bridge the 18 mile span across the narrowest stretch of the Red Sea.
Djibouti's prime minister said there was growing excitement about the proposal, despite the fact that it is at a very early stage and has not yet officially been presented to his government.
"The project fell on us from the sky with the proposal by Osama Bin Laden's brother, who has a construction company in Saudi Arabia," Dileita Mohamed Dileita told the French news agency, AFP.
"People are talking about it a lot here - the Yemenis are convinced the project will be carried out with Saudi and Emirates’ funds to connect the Arab world to Africa."
Mr Dileita said the bridge would make African Muslims' pilgrimages to Mecca far easier, athough the link would raise concerns over the flow of illegal immigrants into Arabia.
The world's longest bridge across open water is the 20 mile Donghai Bridge in China.
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