RIYADH, Dec 22: Saudi Arabia has announced recalling its ambassador from Tripoli over allegations of a Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

Announcing the step, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal said in Riyadh on Wednesday, the procedure we took is to recall the Saudi ambassador from Libya and ask Libya to withdraw its ambassador."

"A memorandum will be handed over to the Libyan government later on Wednesday," he announced. The move is apparently based on the confession by an American Muslim in a US court about a plot to assassinate the Saudi crown prince at the behest of the Libyan leader Muammar Al Qadhafi.

The prominent US Muslim activist, Abdurahman Al Amoudi, was sent to 23 years in jail for illegal financial dealings with Libya and for his role in the plot. Mr Amoudi, founder of the American Muslim Council and head of the American Muslim Federation, said in court he had contacted Saudi dissidents in London on behalf of some Libyan officials to kill the crown prince.

Mr Amoudi also conceded that while in Makkah he also contacted some mercenaries to carry out the plot. Libya has denied the accusations as baseless. The move is the latest sign of deterioration in ties between Saudi Arabia and Libya.

At an Arab League summit in Sharm-Al-Sheikh, Egypt, a verbal duet between the Saudi crown prince and the Libyan leader almost sabotaged the meeting. The duet was erroneously also transmitted the world over on TV channels.

In March last year, Libya's top executive and legislative body said it would recall the country's ambassador to Saudi Arabia in protest at the public argument between Crown Prince Abdullah and Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi.

That spat sparked protests in Tripoli, where thousands of Libyans poured into the capital and tried to break into the Saudi embassy. In a sign of reconciliation, Qadhafi later said he opposed downgrading diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. Prince Saud said the kingdom's move was a restrained in its response to the "atrocious" incident.