Wearing a jacket with a white handkerchief neatly tucked into the breast pocket, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to America, Turki Al Faisal, wasted little time during a public appearance at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in denouncing Osama bin Laden, saying the terrorist’s was an evil vision. “Osama Bin Laden does not speak for Muslims,” Mr. Al Faisal said yesterday afternoon. “His religion is extremism.”

As the discussion wore on, Mr. Al Faisal addressed topics from Israel-Palestinian relations to Iran’s nuclear capacity – offering Saudi views on both, as well as some opinions on his country’s domestic policies.

“We have good relations with Iran,” now, improved since the 1980s, the ambassador said in response to an audience question relayed by the school’s dean, Lisa Anderson. Mr. Al Faisal said his country was concerned about even a non-military nuclear mishap in Iran – because prevailing winds from Iran head toward Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah has urged Iran to accept a Russian proposal whereby Iran would get its enriched uranium for civilian nuclear energy from Russia, Mr. Al Faisal noted.

A lecturer of international law at Benha University in Egypt, Wael Allam, who is a visiting scholar at Columbia and attended yesterday’s event, said he would have preferred to hear more specifics on the evolution of Saudi-Iranian relations in Mr. Al Faisal’s speech.

When Ms. Anderson asked Mr. Al Faisal to describe the Iraq War from a Saudi perspective, he said his country was working toward building stability and security by utilizing its contacts with “all Iraqi factions,” because, he said, a unified Iraq is in the best interests for all Iraqis.

“Public opinion wants to see engagement,” Mr. Al Faisal said, in comments on the Israeli-Palestinian Arab situation. “I wish I could be optimistic for peace.” He quoted a poll that found 60% of Israelis and more than 70% of Palestinian Arabs think Israel and Hamas should be communicating.

In response to a question about a visit to Saudi Arabia by President Hu, the ambassador said, “We see China as a stable and a very friendly country,” adding, “They also buy a lot of our oil.”

As Ms. Anderson read other questions submitted by audience members, discussion shifted to America’s diversifying energy sources. Mr. Al Faisal said America could certainly increase its ethanol usage, but that if it were increased to 6% of the country’s total energy consumption, America would need to plant cornfields the size of Idaho, Nebraska, and a couple of other states to keep pace. That’s “okay with us,” Ms. Anderson interjected, “We’re in New York.”

“Our evolution and change is going to come at our own pace,” Mr. Al Faisal said when talking about domestic issues. Mr. Al Faisal touched only briefly on a range of difficult internal topics, including illegal workers, offensive materials in primary school curricula, women’s employment, and freedom of the press. American history, such as its Civil Rights movement and the Civil War, were helpful to Saudis, the ambassador said: “We want to learn from your experience.”

A senior fellow at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, George Gruen, who earned a doctorate at Columbia in international relations and Middle East studies, said of the ambassador: “He put the best forward” when presenting his country’s views and making Saudi Arabia sound progressive. But nobody asked the ambassador whether women can drive alone in their country, Mr. Gruen added.