Al-Sharq al-Awsat: Political tension cause 70 Saudi companies pulls out from Libyan fair

A press source said that 70 Saudi Arabian companies have withdrawn their applications to take part in a fair to be held in the Libyan capital Tripoli in October this year, following the crisis which erupted between the two states where Libya summoned its ambassador from Saudi Arabia.

Libya has summoned its ambassador from the Saudi Arabia following a rift between Libya's Leader of the Revolution Colonel Muammar al Qathafi and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz during the recent Arab summit in Sharm esh Sheikh in Egypt last Saturday.

In a report from Jeddah, the London based al-Sharq al-Awsat said that the 70 Saudi companies pulled out participation requests from the second Saudi "Quality Fair" for industrial and agricultural products.

The paper quoted the chairman of al-Bahes group which organizes the fair, Muhammad Abdul Rahman al-Bahes, that many of the companies pulled out for "fears of being harassed," noting in this regard, the March of protest held in front of the Saudi embassy in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, following the rift between Qathafi and crown prince Abdullah.

Bahes told the paper that his company seeks to hold the fair in a country close to Libya because deals expected to be finalized by the Libyan companies are "expected to be good," especially with the decrease in trade exchange rate between Saudi Arabia and Libya, which he said did not exceed 80 million Saudi Riyals.