CAIRO, June 11 (IslamOnline.net) – Denying a personal involvement in the conspiracy, Muslim American leader Abdel-Rahman Al-Amoudi confirmed to IslamOnline.net on Friday, June 11, reports that the Libyan leader had ordered the assassination of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel-Aziz last year.

The New York Times splashed out a report quoting U.S. intelligence officials as saying that Gaddafi asked in June and August 2003, for Prince Abdullah "to be killed "either through assassination or through a coup".

Abdel-Rahman Al-Amoudi, the American Muslim leader now in jail in Virginia for making unauthorized trips to Libya, however, affirmed to IOL – in response to a question conveyed by his personal advisor Ashraf Nubani that Gaddafi "wanted to kill the Saudi crown prince."

"The nuts Gaddafi wanted to kill Prince Abdullah, and Amoudi is the source of the statements," Nubani told IOL in exclusive statements over phone, a few hours after meeting Amoudi Thursday, June 10, night.

However, Nubani denied that Amoudi was a conspirator in the plot, saying "Amoudi does not want to kill anyone". He declined to comment on the part of the report concerning Amoudi's support or working to see the plot through.

Gaddafi and Crown Prince Abdullah clashed at the Arab summit meeting in March 2003, almost three months before the Libyan leader allegedly asked for killing the Saudi de factor ruler."

Libyan officials were not available for comment.

For his part, Amoudi's lawyer, Stanley Cohen, said his client is "cooperating with the Saudi government and the U.S. investigators".

"His cooperation is out of a desire to help Saudi Arabia and its Royal Family – and anyone else – to get to the bottom line," Cohen told IOL over phone.

"He [feels] very strongly about the need for the truth to come out," he said, refusing to comment on the NY Times report.

The Times had quoted criminal lawyers as saying that Amoudi's statements were offered in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors, and that under federal guidelines, prosecutors could urge a judge to reduce his prison term in exchange for his statements.

Amoudi was indicted last October in the U.S. District Court of Alexandria, Virginia, on charges of violating United States sanctions by traveling to Libya and receiving money from Libyan officials.

But Cohen denied Amoudi had held any deal to "release or even reduce" the sentence against him. He said the American activist faces a life sentence.

Another Libyan intelligence official, named as Ahmed Ismail, was reportedly named as the operation commander of the assassination plot.

The Libyan leader's son – Saif Al-Islam – said Thursday that Ismail had gone missing, without confirming that he was working for the Libyan intelligence.

Cohen said that American President George W. Bush knew of the assassination plot more than eight months ago, and that the report was leaked now for "election purposes".

Bush, attending the Group of Eight in Georgia Thursday, claimed that he did not hear of the information before.

Bush said: "I can tell you is that we're going to make sure we fully understand the veracity of the plot line. And so we are looking into it," Bush told a press conference at the end of the Group of Eight summit in Sea Island, Georgia.

He added: "When we find out the facts, we will deal with them accordingly."

But Cohen called Bush's claims "misleading", saying his client was irked by the abrupt leakage to the media. "This will hurt investigations. "

"It was obvious that the President made his choice and struck a deal with Gaddafi, so that he could get a political benefit from it," the lawyer said.

"Neo-conservatives"

Asked about the significance of the timing of leaking information on the alleged assassination attempt, Cohen said: "There are forces in the U.S. who want to protect the President" lest American people "would be upset with Bush for negotiating a deal with Gaddafi".

Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the College of Law, University of Illinois, agreed, telling IOL: "The neo-conservatives could use the case "to go one step further and destroy Gaddafi".

Boyle did not rule out a military action against Libya similar to that of Iraq, both countries have large oil reserves.

Libya said earlier this week that its potential oil reserves of 100 billion barrels could be three times higher than those already proven and that many American firms have expressed interest in developing them once Washington's sanctions are lifted.

If the 100-billion-barrel figure is confirmed, Libya would be sitting on nearly 10 percent of the world's total reserves, with a hydrocarbon wealth similar to Kuwait's.

The Times said that Amoudi's statements could be used to trigger a reinstatement of international sanctions on Libya that were lifted after Gaddafi's government renounced terrorism, admitted responsibility for the Pan Am 103 bombing and agreed to pay 10 million dollars compensation to the families.

The paper said that the United States could indict Gaddafi on the ground of the claims of Amoudi, whom the paper said worked as a State Department consultant.

"He could be added to the "unindicted conspirator" list in the case against Amoudi [if the case was taken to court]," said the international law expert Boyle, voicing suspicions over the whole affair.

Other analysts said that leakage could further escalate Libya's already-deteriorating relations with Saudi Arabia.

Although Saudi officials gave no comment on the issue, state-run media reports in the kingdom were awash with scathing attacks on Gaddafi and calls on overthrowing the Libyan leader "even by force" after the allegedly foiled plot.

Saudi journalists went far to court the Saudi Royal family, calling Gaddafi a "traitor" and a "dog".

Gihad Al-Ghazen, a renowned journalist and the former editor-in chief of the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper – co-owned by Saudis, said Gaddafi should "leave, either voluntarily, or by be overthrown".