WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has launched a radio advertising campaign in the United States in a bid to persuade Americans it does not have ties to terrorists, a Saudi Embassy official said Wednesday.
The ads will air until September 6 in 19 of the largest US cities, including Washington, Boston, Chicago and Dallas.
However, the advertisements will not run in New York, to avoid charges of trying to influence US politics during the Republican National Convention to be held there from August 30 to September 2, embassy spokesman Nail al-Jubeir said.
"The issue is to highlight the 9/11 commission, which exonerated Saudi Arabia, the government as well as senior officials of funding terrorism," the spokesman said. "We wanted to make sure that people are aware of this."
In one of the spots, Riyadh cites a passage from the 9/11 commission report that examined the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States: "We have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization," a reference to the Al-Qaeda terror network.
Saudi determination to fight terrorism has been repeatedly called into question by US media and politicians, including Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
In his anti-Bush documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," US filmmaker Michael Moore also accused President George W. Bush's administration of helping Saudi princes and members of Osama bin Laden's family leave the United States right after the September 11 attacks, when US airspace was closed to commercial traffic.
A different passage from the 9/11 Commission report used in the Saudi ad says: "We found no evidence that flights of Saudi nationals took place before the reopening of national air space. We found no evidence of political intervention."
The commission, however, pointed out that Al-Qaeda had found fertile ground for fundraising in Saudi Arabia, where religious extremism is rampant and where charities are part of local culture and operate with little control.