RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Government-run newspapers Saturday condemned an alleged Libyan plot to kill Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, and one paper said four al-Qaida militants recruited to carry out the assassination had been arrested.
There was no official confirmation of the arrests, reported on the front page of the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, which is known for its close links to the Saudi royal family.
Quoting “reliable sources,” the paper said the militants were arrested at a hotel in Mecca and had been recruited by Col. Mohamed Ismael, a Libyan intelligence officer currently in Saudi custody who reportedly provided Saudi investigators with the details of the plot.
“Al-Qaida is ready to ally with the devil to execute its plots inside Saudi Arabia,” the paper said.
U.S. media quoted unidentified sources as saying Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had ordered Abdullah’s assassination. Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalqam has denied the reports. President Bush said Thursday that U.S. investigators were trying to establish whether there was such a plot.
A heated public exchange of insults between Gadhafi and Abdullah at an Arab summit last year showed the severity of their troubled relations and resulted in Libya’s withdrawal of its ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Gadhafi accused the Saudis of allowing U.S. troops to enter Arab lands, while Abdullah called Gadhafi an agent for the Americans.
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