Washington: The US has rejected Saudi Arabia's plea to publish a classified section of the Congressional report alleging possible links between Saudi officials and hijackers, citing fears that the information would "help the enemy".

In a bid to clear Saudi Arabia's name, its Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal met President George W Bush on July 28 to persuade him to declassify the pages and allow the Saudis to respond.

However, Bush said disclosure of the full report would "help the enemy" by compromising intelligence sources and methods while investigations continued.

Faisal stopped short of criticising the Bush administration, saying only that his country was "disappointed" at the decision not to publish but understood the reasons.

He said his country had been "wrongfully and morbidly" accused of complicity in the 9/11 attacks by those with "malicious intent".

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who used planes to attack New York and Washington were Saudi nationals and there have been allegations that some were also funded from Riyadh.

"Twenty eight blank pages are now considered substantial evidence to proclaim the guilt of a country that has been a true friend and partner of the United States for over 60 years," he said.

"Saudi Arabia has nothing to hide. We can deal with questions in public, but we cannot respond to blank pages," he argued.

PTI