WASHINGTON – The Saudi Arabian Embassy claimed yesterday it donated $400,000 to a controversial Islamic charity that has been shut down by the Bush administration for terror links so that the organization could buy office supplies and furniture.

An American public-relations adviser to the Saudi Embassy offered the astonishing explanation for the whopping donation to the International Islamic Relief Organization as part of a media offensive to quash the growing blood-money scandal now engulfing U.S.-Saudi relations.

The adviser added that embassy officials thought they were helping an established Muslim charity buy furniture and other office supplies when they made the payment in 1997, but were “scammed” by a Middle Eastern businessman connected to the organization.

The Post reported Monday that the payment is part of a U.S. probe into whether Saudi money is being funneled to terrorists.