(CNSNews.com) - Delegates to an international counterterrorism conference in Saudi Arabia have praised the host country for fighting against terrorism, but the kingdom has come under renewed fire lately by critics accusing it of inciting hatred and violence.

Most delegation heads at the four-day gathering in Riyadh commended Saudi Arabia for its efforts in fighting terrorism, according to transcripts made available by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Opening the conference attended by representatives of 50 countries, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz said Saudi Arabia "was one of the first countries to suffer from terrorism and warn of its dangers. It has dealt with it vigilantly on the local, regional and international levels."

Abdullah also called for the establishment of an international center to combat and preempt terror.

In her speech, U.S. representative and deputy national security advisor for counterterrorism Frances Townsend praised Saudi "leadership and commitment" in the fight against terrorism.

"The Saudi government and media have begun to educate Saudis about the dangers of extremism," she said, adding that political and religious leaders were "playing an increasing role in speaking out against extremism."

"Greater efforts are necessary, however, if we are to succeed in eradicating terrorism from the kingdom and the world."

In response to the suggestion of an international center, Townsend said any step taken to increase intelligence-sharing would be "a net gain" in the fight, but that the proposed center would not end the need for bilateral exchanges of information.

Saudi officials said many participants had voiced support, and that the initiative would be taken up with the U.N.

Saudi Arabia, the homeland of Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks, has since May 2003 been targeted by terrorists loyal to bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Many of the victims have been Westerners.

Riyadh says attacks over the past 21 months have cost the lives of 90 civilians and 39 security force members. Ninety-two terrorists have been killed in the violence.

The government portrays al-Qaeda and its sympathizers as "miscreants" and "delinquents" who have - in the words of Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdel-Aziz - "forsaken the tolerant teachings of Islam, feeding instead on alien ideas."

Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh al-Sheikh told the conference the kingdom had succeeded in changing the thinking of more than 250 Saudis who were sympathetic toward al-Qaeda, via an Internet-based program that offers counseling and a hotline.

"We have reached out to them and have succeeded in convincing more than 250 to change their ways," he said, adding that "dialogue" was continuing with hundreds of others.

'Iraqi jihad is legitimate'

Al-Sheikh also told delegates that his ministry had instructed Saudi preachers 25 times over the past three years to devote entire sermons to condemning terrorism.

According to videoclips and translations provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), however, incitement continues in Saudi media.

"During the past week leading up to and during the opening of the conference, Saudi government-controlled TV has continued to air programs and shows that incite their viewers to jihad and hatred of Christians and Jews," MEMRI said.

In one example, Saudi cleric Musa al-Qarni told the Iqra religious television network on Feb. 3: "I emphasize that the jihad that the Muslims are fighting in Iraq in order to repel the enemy aggressor, the Jews and the Christians, who are attacking land and honor - I emphasize that this jihad is legitimate jihad, jihad for Allah's sake, and it is considered defense of Muslim countries, their lands and their honor."

Another Saudi cleric, Sheikh Sa'd al-Breik, referring during a Jan. 27 Saudi TV interview to suicide bombings, spoke in support of the "jihad to get rid of the occupier and to confront the enemy [in Iraq]. We pray to Allah that he grants them victory until the last of the foreign soldiers leaves their country."

And in an earlier Iqra interview, cleric 'Aed al-Qarni said: "I pray to Allah that he will make the enemies fall into their own trap and that he will destroy the Jews and their helpers from among the Christians and the Communists, and that he will turn them into the Muslims' spoils.

"I praise the jihad, the sacrifice, and the resistance against the occupiers in Iraq. We curse them all of them every night and pray that Allah will annihilate them, tear them apart, and grant us victory over them."

Late last month, the American human rights group Freedom House released a report charging that the Saudi government was involved in disseminating "hate propaganda" among American Muslims.

Having studied more than 200 pieces of literature produced or provided by various Saudi ministries and other bodies and available in mosques in the U.S., the organization concluded that they reflected a "totalitarian ideology of hatred that can incite to violence."

See related story:
Counterterror Conference Sidesteps Issue of Defining Terrorism (Feb. 08, 2005) Saudis Accused of Spreading 'Hate Propaganda' in US (Feb. 01. 2005)

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