LONDON: Security forces in Saudi Arabia have arrested 600 terrorist suspects in the past six months and “re-educated” 3,500 preachers, the country’s ambassador to Britain said on Thursday.

Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former head of the Saudi intelligence agencies, was speaking at a London conference on counter-terrorism, part of a determined attempt by Riyadh to convince the West it is taking tough action against extremists.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks on the US were Saudis. Influential voices in the west, and particularly in the Bush administration, still believe the Saudi authorities are not doing enough to counter extremism inspired in part by Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda movement.

They say they are worried about the amount of money collected for charities in Saudi Arabia and channelled to extremist groups abroad.

Senior Saudi officials said on Thursday people collecting money outside mosques now had to be licensed and their cash counted.

Saudi officials said that in addition to 3,500 imams who had been “re-educated” over the past few months, others had “failed the test” — a euphemism for losing their job.

The importance Riyadh attaches to the problem was reflected in a statement read out to the conference at the Royal United Services Institute by Prince Nayef, the Saudi interior minister responsible for the security forces.

“The kingdom’s efforts in fighting terror are crystal clear and cannot be denied by anyone except the cynical,” he said.

He emphasised the need for a concerted, international, fight against terrorism — more useful, he said, than portraying Islam and Muslims as the “inventors of terrorism”.

In an unmistakeable reference to the activities of Israeli forces, Prince Nayef also said there must be a distinction, he said, “between terrorism and the legitimate struggle of peoples for self-determination, independence, and territorial integrity”.

However, the tougher stand the Saudi authorities are taking against suspects is in danger of provoking a backlash.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.