WASHINGTON, December 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia responded angrily Tuesday, December 3, to suggestions it is indirectly helping terror groups by inadequate screening of contributions to charitable organizations, saying it would be "merciless" in its handling of terrorists.

With the tension between U.S. and Saudi Arabia mounting , Crown Prince Abdullah's foreign policy adviser, Adel Al-Jubeir, said the Arab kingdom was the target of an outrageous campaign that "borders on hate."

Saudi Arabia would be "merciless" in its handling of terrorists, countering U.S. allegations that the country had been uncooperative in a recent alleged terror financing probe, he said.

"We will be vigilant. We will be determined. And we will be merciless when it comes to dealing with terrorism and those who perpetrate it," Adel al-Jubeir, a senior foreign policy adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, told reporters in Washington, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But he added that Saudi Arabia had also been unfairly maligned.

According to a Saudi government statement, Saudi Arabia has frozen 33 bank accounts worth some 5.5 million dollars and has aided in the breakup of at least three al-Qaeda cells.

"We have been described as the kernel of evil, the breeding ground for terrorists. Our faith has been maligned in ways that I did not expect Americans to ever do," Jubeir said, noting that he hoped his outline Tuesday of measures the Saudis had taken to thwart terror financing would "lay to rest" those charges "so that it becomes very clear to the world that Saudi Arabia has been instrumental in this war against terrorism."

More than 2,000 people have been questioned and upwards of 100 people are in detention in the kingdom, according to Jubeir.

And officials have also set up an oversight commission to ensure that Saudi charities "are vigilant and are not in a position where people take advantage of them." Nonprofit organizations are also now required to perform audits, and banks have "know-your-customer" regulations to track money transfers.

"Every dollar that leaves Saudi Arabia now can be traced. And if we find linkage toward illicit issues or illegal things or terrorism, we will pursue it."

Last week, Democratic U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman declared that President George W. Bush "ought to be demanding a full public accounting from the FBI and the CIA about what they know about Saudi involvement" in donations allegedly reaching al-Qaeda.

And the U.S. State Department suggested last week that U.S.-Saudi cooperation could be improved, with spokesman Richard Boucher saying: "We believe the Saudi response on matters involving the war on terrorism has been very strong. We've worked together on law enforcement. We've worked together on financial matters. We've worked together on intelligence, military and other aspects of cooperation against terrorism.

"At the same time, I'd have to say there's always more to be done, and there is much more that we need to do, together with the Saudis, in finding and stopping the funding sources for international terrorism. And I think the Saudis are aware of that and continue to work with us on those things."

The remarks came as Saudi Arabia denied charges that Princess Haifa al-Faisal, the wife of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, allegedly channeled charitable funds to two men suspected of taking part in last year's September 11 terror attacks.