RIYADH (Reuters) - A former Saudi intelligence chief said in remarks published Tuesday that Saudi Arabia had rejected a conditional offer made several years ago by Sudan to hand over Osama bin Laden.

In comments carried by the Saudi daily Arab News, Prince Turki al-Faisal also said he had twice met the head of the ruling Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and described the reclusive leader making an ``hysterical'' attack on Saudi Arabia on one occasion. Prince Turki said Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir had offered to hand over the Saudi dissident before 1996, when Sudan expelled him, on condition that no legal action was taken against him.

``President Bashir asked for guarantees regarding bin Laden's prosecution, that he would not be tried by any legal authority in the kingdom. Bashir was told that no one is above the law and that we could not give such guarantees,'' he said.

Prince Turki was speaking in an interview with Arab News and the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), which has been broadcasting his remarks in several parts in recent days.

Prince Turki had earlier said the Taliban had twice agreed to hand over bin Laden, but had reneged after the United States bombed Afghanistan in 1998 in response to the attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Bin Laden is now wanted by Washington in connection with the September 11 suicide plane attacks on U.S. cities.

MEETING MULLAH OMAR

Prince Turki said he had two brief meetings with the leader of the Taliban, with whom Saudi Arabia previously had diplomatic ties. It broke relations in September because the group continued to harbor ``terrorists.''

``In my first meeting with Mullah Omar, he was very cordial, but in the second meeting he turned hysterical in his attacks on the kingdom,'' the prince said.

During the first meeting, he said Mullah Omar had not objected to proposals for the extradition of bin Laden to Saudi Arabia. ``In the second meeting, Mullah Omar was not in a mood to listen to anyone,'' he said.

Prince Turki also reported associates of Mullah Omar as describing the leader as ``very brave'' when he fought against the Russians and ``deeply religious.''

``On the other hand, his opponents said he was an introvert who holds extreme religious views. He never tolerated any criticism of his decisions and never swerved from a decision under any circumstances whatever risks it involved,'' he said.