Saudi Crown Prince Amir Abdollah lashed out recently at the US media "smear campaign", accusing the newspapers of trying to "drive a wedge" between the Kingdom and the United States.

"The newspapers that are writing about us (Muslims) and the Kingdom are all paid for that", the Prince told a gathering of education officials in a speech broadcast on state television last week, stopping short of naming Israel as the paymaster of the anti-Saudi campaign.

"The atmosphere has become very tense, nerves are breaking, the leadership is visibly shaken and criticism against both the ruling royal family and its US supporter are voiced more openly than ever before, specially by some influential clerics", one such resident told Iran Press Service, thinking to close shop and go back to the States.

He said the bombing of Afghanistan by the Americans and the British; as a result of the 11 September attacks, have exacerbated the situation.

"Like the months before the overthrew of the Shah in Iran, when cassettes containing speeches of Ayatollah Khomeini were distributed secretly, in Saudi Arabia, it is the same thing, Ben Laden having replaced Khomeini, but the messages to the people are similar", he pointed out.

Pakistani newspapers say the Saudis have conveyed to the United States, via Islamabad, their concern that if bombing of Afghanistan was not stopped during Ramazan, the Kingdom could face "massive rallies and upheavals", involving hundreds of thousands of Muslims who gather there from all over the world for the last days of the holy month, according to Mr. Salim Bokhari of the Pakistani newspaper "The News".

This congregation reaches its peak around 21st of Ramazan, Muslim’s fasting month, when Muslims begin the wait for the holiest of the holy nights, known as the night of "Laylat-ol-Qadr", an important date in the Muslims calendar, described in the Qor’an as "a night better than a 1000 months" and "The night that angels descend from heavens".

In these holy days, the Saudis maintain, killings of innocent Muslims in Afghanistan would not go unnoticed and there is every likelihood that a repeat of the 1988 events may take place when Iranian pilgrims in Mecca staged massive anti-US, anti-Israeli and anti-Saudi protest demonstrations that led to police shootings and killing more than 400 Iranian demonstrators.

The Saudi are fearing that some dissident clerics might use the last Friday of the Ramazan for declaring "jihad", or holly war against America and its allies, a possibility that might seen Saudis, but also the relatively large number of Afghans and Pathans who work in Saudi Arabia may express their fury by staging protests and even attacking US forces garrisons and bases in the country.

They questioned the supporters of air strikes against Taleban during Ramazan whether the current killing of innocent Afghan citizens was justified? They were of the view that there could be difference of opinion about policies of Taleban but it was not a time to take stock of them.

Analysts have noted that the Saudi leadership has been taking a very held back position in support of the US and the coalition.

Asked about the condemnation of the US in some Muslim nations, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. is "very satisfied with the support and help it is gotten in the Muslim world".

"We're getting a lot of co-operation from the Arab world. We're getting a lot of co-operation from the Muslim world. We've seen countries that are carrying out arrests (of alledged terrorist allied to Mr. Ben Laden). We're seeing countries that are imposing financial restrictions and seizing assets", Boucher told journalists. "And there are a variety of countries that are offering us various kinds of support for the military operation as well."

Boucher also said it is clear from comments by the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, that attempts to split the Muslim world are not working. Moussa, Boucher said, "made quite clear that Osama Ben Laden and Al-Qa’ida do not speak for Arabs and Muslims".