WASHINGTON, 8 August — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal yesterday highlighted the Kingdom’s six-decade old strong ties with the United States and denounced the move by certain quarters to drive a wedge between the two allies.

"The friendly relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States and their alliance for more than 60 years are excellent in all areas," the prince said in a statement distributed by the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

Prince Saud dismissed the comments made by Laurent Murawiec, an analyst from the private Rand Corporation, during a briefing to the US Defense Board on July 10 as "mere fantasy."

In his briefing Murawiec had portrayed Saudi Arabia as an enemy of the United States and urged that the Kingdom be given an ultimatum to stop all support for terrorism or face the seizure of its oil fields and financial assets.

Following Murawiec’s explosive remarks, the United States hastened to assure Saudi Arabia that US policy toward its Gulf ally had not changed.

Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Prince Saudi to tell him that President George W. Bush did not view the Kingdom as a potential enemy. Prince Saud expressed appreciation for Powell’s gesture.

"Unfortunately there are certain people in some circles who try to create suspicion about or shake the historic and deep-rooted relations between our two countries and I’m confident that they will not succeed," the prince said.

Yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney said that Washington believed Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 terror attacks on US targets. "Certainly the Saudi government had absolutely nothing to do with the events of 9-11," Cheney said during a speech before the Commonwealth Club of California. "I’m comfortable we can have honest differences with Saudis," he added.