JEDDAH, 25 August — Saud Al-Rasheed, age 21, wanted by the FBI for alleged links to the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has surrendered to security authorities, his father said yesterday. He is being questioned by the authorities.

“Saud surrendered voluntarily to the Interior Ministry on Thursday,” his father, Abdul Aziz Al-Rasheed from Al-Kharj in the Riyadh region, told the Associated Press.

On Tuesday night the FBI issued a bulletin for the arrest of Saud Al-Rasheed. “Saud Al-Rasheed is suspected to be associated with the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers,” the bulletin said.

Abdul Aziz said he wanted his son to go to the ministry because he was confident of his innocence. “I was also concerned for his safety after the FBI warrant,” said Abdul Aziz, who works for the Saudi Red Crescent Society in Riyadh.

Abdul Aziz said his son was in the ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh. He said he had visited him on Thursday night and that his morale was “very high.”

Abdul Aziz denied the FBI accusations against his son, saying he was a peaceful and social young man who had nothing to do with terrorist organizations. He said, “He has never held a gun in his life.”

He said Saud was in Egypt when the warrant was issued but that he returned to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. He said Saud had been in Afghanistan but had returned to the Kingdom long before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Saud, who manages a small shop in Riyadh, went to Afghanistan to take part in humanitarian work for his fellow Muslims, Abdul Aziz said. He said he had supported his son’s trip to Afghanistan because he thought it would make Saud “an independent man.” He continued, “He came back several months before the Sept. 11 attacks and he confirmed to me that he had had no relations with any terrorist group there, specifically Al-Qaeda or the Taleban regime,” he said.

The United States has blamed Al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden, for the attacks.

It provided substantial support to the forces that overthrew the Taleban government of Afghanistan last year after the Taleban refused to hand over Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda members.

In Washington, law enforcement officials have said that Saud’s photo was found in material obtained overseas some time ago and only recently examined by the FBI. Abdul Aziz believed that the FBI might have got hold of his son’s photo from a visa application in Pakistan. “Saud did not lose his passport. They might have taken the photo from his visa,” he added.

“Saud told me that he entered Afghanistan through Pakistan and that he had given that particular photo to the Pakistani authorities along with his visa application,” the father said.

Saud went to Afghanistan about 19 months ago “as part of a charity relief team” before returning to Saudi Arabia “at least four months before the September attacks,” his father said. “He came back from Afghanistan long before Sept. 11 and has never been to the United States or Europe.

“How then could he participate in these terrorist incidents?” he told Al-Riyadh Arabic daily.

He denied categorically that his son had undergone any military training or had ever had any links with Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network or any other terrorist organization.

The FBI on Tuesday released a passport photo of Saud and said it considered him armed and dangerous. “I was surprised to see his name and picture on the Internet and in the media,” Abdul Aziz stated. He said that the FBI should apologize for making false accusation against his son. “The FBI should make sure before accusing my son and publishing his picture in the media. It should have published that information in coordination with the Saudi authorities,” he added.

Abdul Aziz said the accusation against his son was part of the anti-Saudi campaign launched by the US media with the support of the Zionist lobby.

FBI spokesman Bill Carter told Reuters that authorities wanted to locate and interview Saud because he might be able to provide valuable information about the attacks.

Abdul Aziz said his son had graduated from a computer training course and had been briefly employed by the Ministry of Education before starting his own business.

Saud is the 15th person sought in connection with the suicide attacks made by hijacked airliners.