Prince Turki Al-Faisal, ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, called for global cooperation in the fight against al Qaeda and other terrorist groups during a speech last night at the Kennedy School of Government.

Al-Faisal encouraged a deepening of U.S.-Saudi relations and further collaboration against terrorism, affirming his kingdom’s stance against al Qaeda.

“Al Qaeda claims to be faithful to Islam and God, but they are not,” the ambassador said. “They are an evil cult. Their twisted vision is alien to the healthy body of the faith that holds the Muslim community together.”

The ambassador also said that to create peace in the region, it is necessary to return to the Palestinians the lands he said they are owed.

Al-Faisal outlined his country’s recent anti-terrorist efforts, which included the 2005 International Counter Terrorism Conference in his country’s capital, Riyahd, and the creation of a joint task force with U.S. officials to share “information, resources and technology.”

While the ambassador urged cooperation throughout his remarks, he also condemned the prejudices which have developed against his country since Sept. 11.

“Our national character has been marred in the eyes of the world,” Al-Faisal said. “As a result of the actions of a few deranged criminals, Saudi Arabia, its people, and its country have been called into question.”

But Al-Faisal asserted that Saudi Arabia, though it is a traditional and conservative country, is not extremist.

The ambassador stressed the importance of new Saudi initiatives to change the education system, which include increasing the number of schools and improving the quality of the textbooks.

“We undertook a strategic plan that is making changes through the removal of intolerant material from textbooks,” Al-Faisal said.

Following his remarks, one audience member asked Prince Turki for his opinion on the Danish cartoons that have incited controversy because of their alleged portrayal of Prophet Muhammed as a terrorist.

“As a Muslim, those cartoons were not just insulting to me and my faith and my being, but also absolutely unacceptable,” Al-Faisal answered, calling for some sort of recourse against the instigators.

Other students asked the ambassador about the election of Hamas in Palestine, the concept of democracy in Saudi Arabia, and the movie “Syriana.”

“He used humor very well to bring the audience over to his side,” said Benjamin D. Zimmer ’07. “He clearly had a lot of experience doing this. That said, he was a very articulate in his rhetoric and responses.”

Xenia Domandy, who is the executive director for research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, which co-sponsored the event with the Institute of Politics, said that the speech was a success.

“I think the prince is an eloquent ambassador for his country in understanding what Saudi Arabia is trying to communicate to the United States and what we are trying to communicate to the Saudi Arabians,” Domandy said.

Belfer Center member and the event’s moderator, John M. Deutch, helped to organize the speech because he had worked with the prince when Deutch served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1995 to 1996.

Al-Faisal, who graduated from Georgetown University, was appointed ambassador to the United States in July 2005, after serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom since January 2003.

—Staff writer Claire M. Guehenno can be reached at guehenno@fas.harvard.edu.