If you have a friend, would you prefer that friend be honest and sincere and frank and point out areas of your life that need change, or would you prefer a friend who just goes along with anything you say?

Crown Prince Abdallah

Of the 158 terror suspects now being held at the US prison camp in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, 100 are Saudi nationals, the Saudi Government says.

Giving a rare interview to the US press, Crown Prince Abdallah said Riyadh could not agree with Washington on support for Israel, and he would not be drawn on the issue of retaining Gulf War-era US military bases in Saudi Arabia.

Bin Laden has condemned the Saudi authorities for tolerating the bases.

Responding to Crown Prince Abdallah's comments, the United States admitted differences over Middle East policy.

On Bin Laden: "A deviant is a deviant regardless of nationality"

"The approach to the Middle East, to peace with Israel and their Arab neighbours, that's an issue on which there is disagreement," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Crown Prince Abdallah said it was difficult to defend the US when Washington seemed unwilling to condemn Israel's use of force against the Palestinians.

He bitterly attacked Israel's policy towards the Palestinians.

"We see children being shot at, buildings being destroyed, trees uprooted, people encircled, territories closed and women killed," he said.

"The reasons that lead people to become suicide bombers - these are the reasons they do so."

The deployment of 5,000 US troops in Saudi Arabia was sidestepped in the interview, with the prince merely saying it was not under discussion.

Al-Qaeda suspects

The prince said it was clear that Bin Laden had planned the terror attacks, recruiting and "brainwashing" Saudis, in a bid to wreck relations with the US.

We ask that they be handed over to us so we can interrogate them, since they fall under the kingdom's regulations

Prince Nayef Saudi interior minister

"Bin Laden's objective was to drive a wedge between the kingdom and the United States," he said.

The Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, has asked the US to hand back for interrogation the more than 100 Saudi nationals he said were being held at Guantanamo Bay.

"I know about them, but we don't know the charges against them, except that they were arrested in Afghanistan," the minister said.

"We ask that they be handed over to us so we can interrogate them, since they fall under the kingdom's regulations."

Without confirming the numbers, US President George W Bush said the decision on whether they would return to Saudi Arabia would be made "on a case-by-case basis".

A US defence official has told Associated Press news agency - on condition of anonymity - that Saudis make up about a fifth of the 482 suspects held by the US on Cuba and in Afghanistan.