WASHINGTON -- A top Saudi official on Tuesday defended the nomination of Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief as ambassador to London, saying it had "nothing to do with giving him diplomatic immunity" from U.S. lawsuits claiming he financed Al-Qaeda.

Prince Turki al-Faisal's appointment as ambassador to London "is a credit to Saudi Arabia. It is a validation of his expertise and his experience, and we believe that he will do a splendid job representing the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in England," Adel al-Jubeir, a senior foreign policy adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, told reporters here.

Prince Turki is among those named as alleged Al-Qaeda financiers in a lawsuit filed by the families of those killed in last year's September 11 terrorist attacks.

Al-Qaeda's Saudi-born leader, Osama bin Laden, has claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people.

He was stripped of his Saudi nationality in 1994 and moved to Afghanistan two years later.

According to the suit, Prince Turki said he would not seek Bin Laden's extradition from Afghanistan and pledged to "generously support" the Taleban regime in exchange for Bin Laden's promise not to use Afghanistan as a base of operations to destabilize the Saudi kingdom.

The deal was sealed at a meeting in Kandahar, Afghanistan, attended by Bin Laden's representatives, according to the suit. When it was over, 400 vehicles still bearing Saudi license plates were delivered to the Taleban, the suit added.

When asked why Prince Turki has yet to deny these accusations, Jubeir said: "Nobody in Saudi Arabia thinks there is any merit to (the charges). "Remember, he is a member of our royal family. He is the son of the late King Faisal. He was head of our intelligence service for 27 years. He already has diplomatic immunity."

Prince Turki left the job of intelligence chief in August 2001, AFP reported.

He told the Saudi television channel MBC last year that he had met Bin Laden several times in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan prior to 1994.

Prince Turki would succeed Ghazi al-Gossaibi as ambassador to London. Gossaibi, who has been the kingdom's London ambassador for a dozen years, was appointed by royal decree in September to head the Water Ministry.