<html> Thursday October 25, 6:30 PM      Saudi hits back at Western "hate"      campaign and vows to defend Islam      RIYADH, Oct 25 (AFP) -      Saudi Arabia's top leaders have hit back hard against Western      criticism, accusing the media of running a smear campaign against      Riyadh's stance on terrorism, and vowing never to compromise on      Islam.      In a rare, tough intervention, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul      Aziz, the effective ruler of the conservative kingdom, said      Western media had "a hidden hatred against Islam".      "The fierce campaign against Saudi Arabia by the Western media      is a result of a hidden hatred against Islamic doctrine and the      kingdom's commitment to it," he said in comments published      Thursday.      "Preserving religion and the nation is an issue on which there can      be no bargaining," he told a group of ministers and newspaper      editors in a briefing Tuesday.      Riyadh has repeatedly complained that the media in the West,      especially the United States, has launched a hostile campaign to      discredit the kingdom's true position against terrorism.      The Saudi government, as well as most leading Islamic clerics in      the kingdom, has strongly criticised the September 11 terror      attacks in the United States and expressed readiness to contribute      to the anti-terror campaign but not a war on Muslim Afghanistan.      However several US senators and leading publications have      complained that Saudi Arabia was not doing enough in the war      against terror, a charge Riyadh has categorically denied.      A scathing editorial last week by the New York Times also      condemned Saudi leaders as being soft on terrorism.      Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz on Tuesday      said the criticism was a result of "misunderstanding and wrong      assessment" of Riyadh's position, and denounced the media      campaign.      But there was no crisis in US-Saudi relations, said Nayef, who      has announced a crackdown on sympathisers or supporters of      Saudi-born Islamist Osama bin Laden and admitted several people      have been arrested.      Bin Laden, the prime suspect for the suicide hijackings, which      Washington believes were carried out by Muslim extremists, was      stripped of his Saudi nationality in 1994.      Several of the 19 presumed hijackers of four commercial aircraft      to make suicide attacks in the United States on September 11,      killing more than 5,000 people, carried Egyptian or Saudi      passports.      "Saudi Arabia, which is honoured to host the Grand Mosque (in      Mecca) and the Prophet's mosque (in Medina), will not take any      action unless it is for the service of Islam and Muslims," said      Prince Abdullah, who rules over day-to-day affairs due to King      Fahd's illness.      "Islam is a religion of true affection and brotherhood, devotion,      mercy and peace," he said, adding that accusations levelled      against Islam are baseless.      Saudi newspapers in the meantime stepped up their criticism of      the "double standard" in US policy in the region, and warned      Washington this could not go on forever.      "For those who are dealing with this issue, particularly America,      we say: Kabul and Jerusalem are unseparable twins in the political      conscience of Arabs and Muslims," Al-Watan daily said in an      editorial.      "In the same way that Washington has Arab and Islamic backing      in its war against terrorism in Afghanistan, it is required to stop      the Zionist terrorism in Palestine, because the public opinion in the      region no longer accepts the double standard policy of the United      States," it added.      "The US must realize that it will never win the war against      terrorism in Afghanistan ... as long as the territory of Palestine is      occupied," the paper said. </html>