King Abdullah pardons Libyans involved in assassination attempt

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz issued a pardon to Libyans who were accused of an assassination attempt of King Abdullah in 2003, when he was a crown prince.

King Abdullah has assumed his rule most recently in succession of the late King Fahd.

At that time of the alleged assassination attempt, the government detained 13 persons, Saudis and Libyans, over a failed assassination attempt which resulted in worsening Saudi relations with Libya, and the Saudi government expelled Libya's ambassador, nine months ago.

The Saudi accusations also pushed Washington to investigate Libya on its role over the assassination attempt, saying that there are doubts that Libya is still supporting terrorism movements, and this issue might obstruct the efforts to remove Libya's name from the US list of countries supporting terrorism.

For its part, Libya accused Saudi Arabia of being behind a Libyan conference of political opposition groups which was held in London one and a half months ago, which called on the Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qathafi to resign.