LONDON, Oct 29: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia arrived here on Monday amidst media controversy kicked up by his pre-arrival revelation that Britain failed to act on the Saudi anti-terrorist intelligence, which he claimed might have averted the July 7 bombings in London in 2005.

In an interview with the BBC ahead of his four-day visit — the first ever by a Saudi monarch in 20 years — the Saudi king said: “We sent information to Great Britain before the terrorist attacks in Britain but unfortunately no action was taken. And it may have been able to maybe avert the tragedy.”

The Guardian on Monday said that last year the Commons intelligence and security committee found no evidence that Saudi intelligence could have prevented the 2005 bombings.

The Liberal Democrat acting leader, Vince Cable, on Sunday took the highly unusual step of announcing that he would be boycotting the visit in protest at the corruption scandal over the infamous Al-Yamamah arms deal.

King Abdullah faces further controversy later in the week. The Left-wing Labour MP, John McDonnell, said protesters would be staging a mass demonstration outside the Saudi embassy on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia last month agreed to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon planes from the UK at a cost of £4.43bn -- the biggest export order yet for the fighter aircraft.

Political topics that are certain to be covered during the king’s visit underline Saudi Arabia’s strategic position in the Middle East. These include the threat of US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, the situation in Iraq and the question of whether the Saudis will attend the forthcoming US-organised Middle East peace conference in Annapolis.

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International, UK, urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to tell the Saudis that their human rights record was “totally unacceptable”.

She added: “Mr Brown’s message should be -- reforms need to come, and they need to come quickly.”

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has pulled out of a scheduled meeting with King Abdullah to spend time with his wife and their newly-adopted second son.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said that the decision to invite King Abdullah was a reflection of the “long-standing friendship” between the two nations.