Libya accuses Saudi Arabia of organizing opposition conference in London

The Libyan authorities accused Saudi Arabia of organizing a conference for the Libyan opposition in London which called by the end of June on the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi who has been ruling the country since 1969 to quit authority.

The Libyan people's committee on Friday in a statement criticized "those Libyans who live abroad and conspire against their country at the support of foreign countries and intelligence." For the first time, these sides directly accused Saudis of being behind the Libyan opposition in addition to unidentified intelligence sides.

In a conference held on June 25th, a conference attended by Libyan opposition figures held in Britain called for the removal of al-Qathafi from rule in preparations to found a democratic Libya.

The convening of the conference coincided with the anniversary of Abu Sleem prison massacre in 1996 in Libya. This massacre took place after political detainees in the prison observed hunger strike over the difficult detention conditions. Legal groups said that the massacre resulted in the killing of 100 political detainees.

Relations between Tripoli and Riyadh reached its lowest level since November 2003 following the disclosure of a Libyan plan to assassinate the Saudi crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz. Libya denied involvement in this plan.