Washington ? Saudi Arabia went on the diplomatic offensive Tuesday, announcing new measures to deny funds to terror groups and disputing allegations it has done a poor job in keeping the money out of terrorists’ hands.

The State and Treasury departments immediately issued statements complimenting the Arab kingdom’s efforts and muting calls by the White House last week for the Saudis to do more.

The FBI is investigating reports that contributions by a Saudi princess who is the wife of Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, may have indirectly helped two of the men who participated in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York and Washington.

The unusual campaign by the generally withdrawn oil-rich monarchy was waged by Crown Prince Abdullah’s foreign policy adviser, Adel Al-Jubeir.

Speaking at the Saudi Embassy, he depicted Saudi Arabia as a victim of an outrageous campaign that “borders on hate.”

He said Saudi Arabia was itself a target of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi expatriate and reputed mastermind of the 9-11 attacks, and was the first nation to freeze al-Qaida’s assets, in 1994.

The fact that 15 of the 19 alleged hijackers were Saudis was an attempt by al-Qaida to give the attacks a Saudi face to try to drive a wedge between the United States and Saudi Arabia, Al-Jubeir said.

“We believe that people have been misinformed about Saudi Arabia and what Saudi Arabia has done, or frankly that people have lied about what we have done or what we allegedly have not done,” he said.

A report issued at the embassy said that Saudi Arabia had set up a commission to oversee charitable groups and had barred transfer of assets from one bank to another in cash.

Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, announces new steps the Saudis are taking to fight terrorism. Chief among them is a new government agency for overseeing charities, a new intelligence unit and strict rules for sending money outside the country. Al-Jubeir spoke Tuesday in Washington.

“We’ve pursued terrorists relentlessly and punished them harshly,” Al-Jubeir said.

More than 2,000 terror suspects have been questioned and more than 100 are in detention, the Saudi official said.

The report said three al-Qaida cells had been broken up and 33 accounts totaling more than $5.5 million had been frozen.

In all the investigations, Al-Jubeir said, “we have not found a direct link between charity groups and terrorism.”