The Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gadafy, yesterday blamed "hidden hostile hands" for causing a wave of violence in Libya against migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa.
In the first official reaction to the attacks on thousands of black migrant workers, he said he regretted the violence but did not make clear whether he thought those responsible were domestic dissidents or non-Libyans.
"We regret the skirmishes that have taken place between the brothers because there are hidden hostile hands which took advantage of the circumstances and fomented them," Col Gadafy said.
The comments came in a message to the Ghanaian President, Mr Jerry Rawlings, broadcast on Libya's state-run radio and monitored in Tunis. Last Sunday, 250 Ghanaians caught up in the violence were repatriated from Libya on a flight accompanied by Mr Rawlings.
The clashes began last week, after Libya's principal legislative and executive body ordered a clampdown on employing foreigners.
Col Gadafy, who is touring Arab nations to promote his plan for a union of African countries modelled on the US, promised that an investigation into the attacks would root out their cause. He appeared to hint that the violence was aimed at undermining his plan, saying that "the enemies" must not be given "the opportunity to block our union".
The repatriated Ghanaians were the first group among an estimated 4,500 Ghanaians waiting in camps outside the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Accounts of beatings, arson and racial insults in Libya by returned Ghanaians echoed earlier statements from Nigerians who fled Libya late last week.
Some Nigerians said they believed that hundreds had been killed in the violence. But the Nigerian government discounted the claims.