Saudis With A Message

Business leaders and academics from Saudi Arabia have launched a campaign to try to repair the image of their country, which was tarnished by the participation of Saudi citizens in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

It began on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, where 83 Saudis - one of the largest contingents at the five-day meeting - made it clear to other participants that they were dismayed to see the kingdom tarred with the brush of terrorism.

After the forum concludes Monday, many will fan out to the American cities where they studied or have business connections and other contacts to tell their side of the story.

"There's nothing official or formal about this," said Prince Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud, chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority. "This is people-to-people communication by Saudis who feel we have a very special relationship with America that we want to preserve."

But they know it won't be easy getting their message across, given the anguish Americans suffered from the attacks.

Although people attending the forum were attentive and respectful, the Saudis said, one of the eight women in their delegation was spit on as she walked on a New York street. She apparently was targeted because she was wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf, they said.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon are blamed on Osama bin Laden, scion of a wealthy Saudi family. Fifteen of the 19 men who hijacked the planes that carried out the attacks have been identified as Saudis, and U.S. officials have complained that the kingdom has been slow to clamp down on its citizens who contribute to extremist causes.

The Saudis at the forum said they don't want the attacks to obliterate 70 years of good relations with Americans, who helped their country develop its oil resources and stood by them in the Gulf War.

"We came in large numbers to the forum to show our support for New York," said Abdullah Alireza, executive director of the Xenel conglomerate "We thought the best way was to come and talk and tell our side of the story."

In meetings in Washington after the forum, he hopes to counter what he considers "inflammatory and unfair" images of his country in American news media.

"We do not support terrorism and have done our best to fight it," he said. "Our economy is safe and growing. We are politically stable and a good place to work and visit."

Majed Al-Kassabi, secretary-general of the Jiddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will visit the University of Missouri, where he earned a degree in engineering management and his oldest son, Abdullah, is now studying engineering.

"I'm not sure Americans realize how we value our relationship with the Americans," Al-Kassabi said. "When we want education, we come to the States. When we need medical help, we go to the Mayo Clinic. When we travel, we go to Disneyland and Disney World."

He said a U.S.-Saudi rift would be a victory for the extremists.

"This is what Osama bin Laden wants," Al-Kassabi said. "His goals would be to ruin Saudi Arabia with fundamentalism and to destroy our relationship with America. He cannot be allowed to win."

Rumblings from Washington on whether to take military action against Iraq are apparently causing some tension in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, says covert operations to help Iraqis who want to topple Saddam Hussein would be more effective than U.S. military strikes.

Prince Turki al-Faisal was asked repeatedly Sunday, in appearances at Georgetown University and on NBC's "Meet the Press," if Saudi Arabia would let the United States stage military action from its territory if it were determined that Saddam was close to acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

Turki, a member of the ruling Saudi royal family, would not respond directly, but said an outside invasion force would only rally people to Saddam's side.

"Any action in Iraq, if it is going to succeed, it will have to come from inside Iraq," said Turki. A son of the late King Faisal, he left the Saudi secret service in August after leading it since 1977.

"I can't see an Iraqi individual riding into Baghdad on his white horse to replace Saddam Hussein, flanked by M-1 tanks or protected by F-15 aircraft and guarded by American Marines," said Turki.

Since Sept. 11, U.S. officials have publicly praised Saudi cooperation, but the kingdom has come under private criticism for allegedly not providing sufficient support.

Turki said Sunday that there is no inclination now in Saudi Arabia toward the withdrawal of U.S. military forces there, since one of the main missions of those troops - coordinating the enforcement of the southern no-fly zone over Iraq - continues.

He also credited the Saudi royal family with already instituting political, financial and social reforms in the secretive, Muslim fundamentalist kingdom. But he acknowledged some "shortcomings" and said reform is an ongoing process.

"The kingdom is a very young country," he said on "Meet the Press." "We are convinced and committed to develop ourselves and reach levels of progress that are obtained by others. So it might take some time, but it is there."

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