Saudi Arabian Ambassador to America, Turki Al-Faisal, called al-Qaida an “evil cult” and voiced his support of the recent Palestinian elections that brought the Hamas group into power, during a public address at Harvard University yesterday.

Al-Faisal, who has been the ambassador to the United States since July 20, 2005, and was in contact with Osama bin Laden in the 1980s, called al-Qaida an “evil cult” with a “twisted vision” and a “perverted interpretation of Islam.”

“The threat of terrorism is great,” Al-Faisal said. “These evildoers will never succeed, that I assure you.”

Citing Islamic beliefs, Al-Faisal summed up the Saudi position on terrorism.

“Whoever kills a man without justification, it is as if he killed all of mankind,” he said.

Al-Faisal refuted myths that Saudi Arabia promotes extremism and funds acts of terrorism, saying there is “no evidence of this.”

According to Al-Faisal, terrorism and extremism exists in every culture and faith.

“No one is immune,” he said.

Al-Faisal then called for a global acceptance of the Palestinian election results that brought to power Hamas, viewed by many as a terrorist organization, and called it “the most open and fair election in our side of the world.”

“I don’t think it would be fair to punish the Palestinians” Al-Faisal said of the global discomfort over the Palestinian’s decision to elect Hamas into power.

In comparison, Al-Faisal said that Saudi people, who do not embrace free speech, are conservative and traditional, but “absolutely not” extremists.

“Saudi Arabia is not a prison state,” he said. “Our people are free to travel wherever they want.”

Al-Faisal then condemned the extremely controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that were printed in a Danish newspaper and have sparked violent riots around the world.

“As a Muslim, those cartoons were not just insulting to me and my faith and my being, but absolutely unacceptable,” he said, adding that the people responsible for the cartoon should be forgiven under the mandates of peace by Muhammad.

And in speaking of the future, Al-Faisal spoke hopefully of King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud’s 2003 reformation proposal as evidence of Saudi’s political, social and economic transformation over the past 60 years. The proposal promoted reform concerning the definition of the Islamic practice, increased political participation, equal rights for men and women and strengthened the government’s capabilities to carry out these reforms and others.

Al-Faisal described Saudi Arabia’s plan to attack the men, money and reasoning that support terrorism.

The plan includes measures to stop the flow of money to terrorists, the mutual sharing of information through a joint task force with U.S. officials and public service announcements meant to deter Saudi citizens from adopting the terrorist mindset.

“The size and scope of the campaign is unprecedented,” Al-Faisal said.

Al-Faisal expressed the importance of “continued friendship and expanding cooperation” between Saudi Arabia and the United States, as well as a “greater understanding between our cultures.”

“The sharing and exchanging of information is necessary … the international community must come together to a greater extent,” Al-Faisal said, adding, “We must find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.”

Dr. John Deutch, Moderator of Al-Faisal’s public address and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Al-Faisal’s views are not typical Arabic views because of his upbringing.

“Prince Turki has an unusual perspective because he was educated in America,” he said.

“His speech was extraordinarily polished,” said Georgetown University graduate Zack Kourland of the address given by Al-Faisal, his fellow alumni.

“He made a lot of valid points,” he said.