SHARM EL-SHEIKH, March 1: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz stormed out of an Arab summit here on Saturday after a heated public row with Libyan President Moamer Qadhafi over Riyadh’s ties with Washington.

Egyptian state television cut its feed of the summit’s proceedings before the walkout, but part of the exchange between the two Arab leaders was carried live.

Mr Qadhafi charged that Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd had been ready to “strike an alliance with the devil” to defend the kingdom after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Crown Prince Abdullah then cut in, retorting that “Saudi Arabia is not an agent of colonialism” and demanding of Qadhafi: “Who exactly brought you to power? ... You are a liar and your grave awaits you.”

At that point the live coverage ended, but delegates said the Libyan leader refused to drop his accusations, railing against the base facilities granted by Saudi Arabia to the United States.

Crown Prince Abdullah then walked out of the conference room, forcing the adjournment of the summit, while other participants tried to calm down the Saudi and Libyan delegations.

The summit later reconvened behind closed doors, but without the live television feed which had spotlightened the huge divisions within the Arab world over the US military buildup in the Gulf.

In Tripoli, thousands of protestors gathered near the Saudi embassy to protest the spat.

Several demonstrators were injured in clashes with riot police who prevented the crowd from approaching the embassy compound in the Libyan capital.—AFP