LONDON, Aug. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Saudi Arabian officials warned Britain before the July 7 attacks that a terror strike was being planned on the UK, media reports here said Sunday.

    Prince Turki al Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, told the Sunday Telegraph that his government warned British officials four months ago with information obtained from suspects being interrogated in his country.

    "There was certainly close liaison between the Saudi Arabian intelligence authorities and the British intelligence authorities some time ago, when information was passed to Britain about a heightened terrorist threat to London," Prince Turki was quoted assaying in a statement.

    Meanwhile, The Observer quoted a security official in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as saying that information was passed to MI5 and MI6, the secret security and intelligence services.

    Saudi security sources are said to be investigating whether twoal Qaida operatives were in phone contact with a British ringleader of the July 7 bomb plotters.

    Money transfers are believed to have been made from Saudi Arabia to the UK in the first six months of the year through businesses in the two countries.

    The papers reported that the investigations revolve around Moroccans Kareem al Majati and Younes al Hayari, both alleged to be senior figures in al Qaida.

    Both were killed in separate shoot-outs in Saudi Arabia in the weeks before July 7.

    But UK security sources have played down the claims, with one saying they "did not recognize" the details of the Saudi claims. Enditem