He moved to forge a broader alliance to counter local and foreign conspiracies against Sri Lanka.

In a recent speech, President Assad again blamed a "foreign conspiracy" for the uprising against his rule.

Syrian public school instructors teach students that the ongoing conflict is a foreign conspiracy - something which many people regard as propaganda.

It shows how a democratic society riddled with paranoia about foreign conspiracies can come to tolerate, and even celebrate, a home-grown dictator.

He proposed a Congressional investigation to examine "whether or not there is any credible evidence of a foreign conspiracy."

Its report, released in September 1964, concluded that Oswald had acted alone and there was no evidence of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign.

After 10 months of bloodshed, he comes out and talks of a foreign conspiracy.

The measles epidemic of 1875 raised suspicion within the hill tribes of a foreign conspiracy given that they were still practising old native beliefs and ways.

The Emir, in power since 1977, cited a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the oil-rich state when he disbanded the elected 50-seat chamber.

Assad said in a speech on Tuesday that his country was the target of a foreign conspiracy.