RIYADH, April 7 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's interior minister has urged clerics to help eradicate the "virus" of radical Islamism which he said had survived a crackdown.

"The straying groups are still working and are unfortunately plotting (attacks)," Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said in remarks published by al-Riyadh newspaper on Saturday.

Saudi officials usually use "straying groups" to refer to Islamic militants sworn to toppling the ruling monarchy and driving out Westerners from the birthplace of Islam.

Clerics need to show greater resolve in contesting the views of radicals in the kingdom and abroad who have issued edicts that likened attacks on the Saudi government and foreigners to jihad or holy struggle, Prince Nayef said.

"The security apparatus is like a surgeon, it amputates the tumour but the virus that must be eliminated in the body of the youths is still there and that is what really needs to be eradicated," he said.

Militants loyal to al Qaeda launched a violent campaign to topple the U.S.-allied monarchy in 2003, carrying out suicide bomb attacks on foreigners and government installations, including the oil industry.

Tough security measures helped curb the violence but analysts and diplomats say radical Islamic ideology and anger at Western policy remain strong.

"Everybody needs to understand that these groups that went astray cannot be eliminated without cooperation from everybody," Nayef said.

He said some Saudi nationals continued to provide cover for wanted militants. He cited a suspect who was killed this week and had been sought over the killing of four French nationals in February.

Waleed bin Mutliq al-Radadi had been on a most wanted list for nearly two years.

"He did that (attack on the French) ... How did he manage to find shelter and eat, could it be that nobody knew who he was? This does not make sense," Nayef said in remarks published in Okaz daily.

The attack on the French, who were on a desert trip, was the first on foreigners since 2005.

"We demand of our clerics ... to work on raising the citizen's awareness and to strengthen the conviction in his mind that what they do, in providing them shelter or showing sympathy for them, is a crime," Nayef told Okaz.

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