Prince plays host to bin Laden's brother

Planned meeting was thought vital after attacks, says Caroline Davies

THE Prince of Wales has entertained a brother of Osama bin Laden - since the terrorist attacks on America - in his efforts to promote a greater understanding of Islam.

Bakr bin Laden, a prominent Saudi businessman, was a guest at Highgrove two weeks ago at a dinner hosted by Prince Charles.

The dinner was to support the Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies, where the bin Laden family funds a fellowship programme, and was organised months before the atrocity, to discuss educating people about Islam.

Given the fear precipitated by the suicide attacks, the Prince agreed there was even more reason for it to go ahead.

Bakr bin Laden, who, with some of his brothers runs the family's construction empire, was introduced to Prince Charles in London in June last year by Prince Khalid Al-Faisal Al-Saud, third of eight sons of the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, and a great admirer of Prince Charles.

Both princes are amateur artists and exhibited at a joint venture, the Painting and Patronage exhibition in London. One of the invited guests was Bakr bin Laden.

Prince Charles's eyebrows shot up when Prince Khalid introduced him: "This is Mr bin Laden." "Not the bin Laden," exclaimed Prince Charles. "No, no. It's his brother," replied Prince Khalid. The two shook hands as Prince Charles mischievously inquired: "What's your brother up to these days?"

Bakr subsequently attended a banquet in February hosted by Crown Prince Abdullah in honour of Prince Charles when the art exhibition transferred to Riyadh.

Bakr, along with the other 52 brothers and sisters of Osama, disavowed their brother seven years ago.

Abdullah bin Laden, 35, among the youngest of the family who now lives in America, said in a recent interview: "It is my understanding that in the early 90s the family repeatedly reached out and made attempts with Osama to moderate his views. After these attempts failed there was a reluctant but unanimous consensus that Osama should be disavowed."

Since the attacks Abdullah is so terrified of reprisals that he maintains a low profile, no longer daring to use his credit card or continue his hobby of flying single-engine planes.

The bin Ladens are among the most influential families in Saudi Arabia and maintain close links with the Saudi Royal Family, as does Prince Charles.

He is particularly close to Prince Khalid, Oxford-educated and the governor of Asir province, a remote south-western part of the country where Prince Charles likes to paint.

Prince Charles's profile is extremely high in Saudi Arabia, particularly because of his prominent speeches extolling Islam. At a time when Saudi Arabia refuses to receive Tony Blair, he continues to enjoy a close relationship with their Royal family.

His speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in 1993 is credited with improving relations between Britain and the Gulf state.

Written after extensive consultation with Islamic advisers, it now seems extraordinarily prescient. In it Prince Charles warned against the temptation to regard extremism as the hallmark of Islam, saying: "Extremism is no more the monopoly of Islam than it is the monopoly of other religions, including Christianity." He spoke, too, of the Western world's debt to the culture of Islam in the shaping of a modern Europe. The response in the Islamic world was ecstatic, and nowhere more so than in Saudi Arabia.

Prince Charles had delivered the speech just before embarking on a tour of the Gulf states. And in an unprecedented gesture the King of Saudi Arabia did not summon the Prince to his own palace but instead paid political homage to him by attending on him at the guest-house that had been set aside to the Prince and his party.

Prince Charles, who on succession to the throne wishes to be known as the Defender of Faiths, rather than Defender of the Faith, has continued to demonstrate his support for Islam and Islamic culture.

He has paid many private visits to Saudi Arabia in recent years and has continued to deliver speeches on Islam.

The Prince set up Vita (a Visual Islamic Traditional Arts programme) at his Prince's Foundation, which now has headquarters in Shoreditch, west London.

In its 17th year, it is a highly-technical post-graduate course which teaches the aesthetics and mathematics of Muslim pattern and the intricate geometric designs peculiar to the Islamic faith.

It is one of very few such courses and some of its alumni have gone on to work on Islamic building construction around the world.

Prince Charles has also demonstrated his support by visiting a London mosque just days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and deciding on an Islamic theme for his garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.