JEDDAH/WASHINGTON, 14 September — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd yesterday sent a message of condolence to President Bush, expressing his deep sorrow on the deaths and destruction caused by Tuesday’s attacks. The king reiterated his condemnation of the attacks and called for international action to fight all forms of terrorism.

Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, pledged full cooperation with the United States to find the perpetrators of the attacks, but urged Washington to avoid rushing to conclusions about who was responsible for them.

“We in Saudi Arabia are fully prepared to cooperate with you in every way that may help identify and track down the perpetrators of this criminal act,” the official Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Abdullah as telling President George W. Bush in a telephone conversation.

The Saudi leader also warned against blaming Arabs and Muslims in general for the airborne attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington and complained about death threats and attacks on them.

He also cautioned the president against attempts by some people to turn American public opinion against Arabs and Muslims living in the United States. “Your excellency realizes the repercussions of issuing speculations being made by some in the media in the US and attempts to openly accuse Arabs and Muslims in general, while Arabs and Muslims stand aloof from such acts that no sane and God-believing individual would commit,” the crown prince said.

Although no official accusation has been made, anti-Arab sentiments in the United States have been rising after the attacks. Prince Abdullah said that attacks by individuals against Arabs and Muslims in the US stood out as evidence of negative sentiments.

“We are confident in the wisdom of Your Excellency and of the American administration...when you confront such acts,” he added.

The SPA said President Bush had agreed with what the crown prince pointed out during the talks. “I assure you that we will not tolerate any harassment or attacks against any Muslim or Arab, be they Americans or residents,” Bush said.

During the conversation, the crown prince conveyed his condolences to the US president and American people. Prince Abdullah described the attacks as a criminal act rejected and disdained by all divine religions.

Earlier, an emotional Bush declared that the United States and its allies were ready to “whip terrorism,” as officials confirmed hundreds dead and about 5,000 still missing from the terror strikes.

The Capitol building, seat of the US Congress, was evacuated yesterday after suspicious packages were found in the building, police said. A police officer said the packages were found on the Senate side of the complex.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had earlier said that 4,763 people were missing from the twin 110-story towers. While the official death toll from the World Trade Center rose to 94, officials said body parts were being recovered and ordered thousands of body bags. The nation’s air transport system slowly resumed operations, although with severe new security measures in place and warnings of long delays.

Knife-wielding hijackers took over three planes and deliberately smashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania killing all 45 people on board after passengers fought the hijackers for control of the plane. Federal investigators probing that crash said they could not rule out the possibility that the jetliner with 45 people aboard had been shot down.

“We have not ruled out that,” FBI agent Bill Crowley told a news conference when asked about reports that a US fighter jet may have fired on the hijacked Boeing 757. “We haven’t ruled out anything yet.”

The Defense Department has vigorously denied reports suggesting the US military could have downed the hijacked flight in an effort to prevent it from reaching a target, perhaps in the nation’s capital.

At the Pentagon, meanwhile, officials said 60 bodies had been found and that 126 people were still unaccounted for.

US Attorney General John Ashcroft said the four planes were taken over by a total of at least 18 hijackers who had “significant ground support.” “They operated with technical proficiency to target and to land an aircraft of that size with the deadly accuracy of these acts of war, was something obviously that resulted from a complex organization with significant ground support,” Ashcroft said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”