Saudi Arabia has rejected criticism it had not done enough to fight terrorism and said the United States must do more to end the Arab-Israeli conflict which gave "lifeblood to the evil cult of hate."
Speaking just days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to Saudi Arabia, the new Saudi ambassador to the United States sought to ease US fears that Riyadh is not cooperating enough on anti-terrorism issues.
"There are those that would have you believe that the current wave of terrorism springs from and is, or has been, supported by Saudi Arabia," said Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal at a conference of the Middle East Institute think tank.
"That is absolutely not true. We have suffered as a result of terrorism. We do not support them. We do not fund them. These terrorists are as much against us as they are against you," added Prince Turki.
The US-Saudi alliance, built on the twin pillars of security and oil, has been strained since the September 11th, 2001, attacks. Most of the hijackers were Saudis.
Prince Turki blamed the "uneven handling" of affairs between Israel and the Palestinians for feeding al-Qaeda's followers.
"It is a cause which can no longer be ignored or set aside. At no time in history has the resolution of this problem been more urgent," he said.
"The US is the only country that can play a vital and important role in this," he added.
After visiting Saudi Arabia, Ms Rice is set to go to Jerusalem and to Palestinian territories during which she will seek to prod both sides to move forward with the peace process.