The two detained Filipino Christians are Benjamin P. Diaz and Danilo L. de Guzman. Steven Snyder, President of ICC said, "Ten days had passed before we even learned of their detention. Many Christian foreign nationals in Saudi Arabia are even afraid to pray together. They are becoming increasingly fearful of meeting together — and this is exactly what the Saudi Government hopes to accomplish. Terrorism of Christians is a real fact of life in Saudi Arabia."

Benjamin and Danilo, both new to the Christian faith, were previously arrested a year ago on April 1, 2001. They were released three days later after suffering beatings while in police custody. Following a number of appearances in court, a lower court ruled that the two men would be flogged, each receiving 75 lashes. However, their case was sent to a higher court, which ruled that instead of the 75 lashes they would each receive 150 lashes and then be deported.

"I told the Crown Prince that we've got a unique relationship with Israel and that one thing that the world can count on is that we will not allow Israel to be crushed," Bush said. "The Crown Prince understands my foreign policy. It's important that we speak with clarity and I will continue to do so." Bush said also that he had had enough of the Israeli incursions: "The Israelis understand my position ... There has been some progress but it's now time to quit it altogether.... I know they've heard us."

Another sign of US interest in a solution to the Middle East crisis was State Department spokesman Richard Boucher's announcement that the United States, Russia, the European Union and the UN will confer in Washington on May 2nd about the conflict in the Middle East. It will be the second meeting of the quartet, which held its first meeting in Madrid on April 10th at the start of a mission to the region by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Boucher added that Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and two senior EU officials would attend.

Bush's comments came a day after he met with Abdullah and was warned US ties with the Arab world were at risk over Middle East violence. No concrete progress resulted from their five-hour session at Bush's ranch, but both countries indicated that the leaders had made progress in improving relations by building a personal relationship. "I'm convinced that the stronger our personal bond is, the more likely it is relations between our (countries) will be strong," Bush said.

The relationship between the United States and the desert kingdom has seen more conflict than cooperation recently and the Crown Prince delivered a stern warning to Bush that his support for Israel was damaging prospects for Middle East peace and undermining US credibility." According to Abdullah's foreign policy adviser, Adel al-Jubeir, the Crown Prince told Bush that America is a country that was "based on justice, freedom and doing what's right. It should pursue those principles in its foreign policies."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "is doing great harm to America's credibility in the Arab and Muslim world," Al-Jubeir said. Abdullah urged Bush to pressure Israel to free Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from house arrest and "explained to the president the dangers of the continuing the stalemate and the importance of negotiating with the Palestinians."

"The closest ally of the US in the Arab world has communicated to the President that Arab-American relations are on the brink of instability," said Clovis Maksoud, former Arab League ambassador to the US and the UN.

"Saudi-American talks are pivotal," added Paul Lalor, of London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. Washington's Arab allies are saying "look, we are in trouble, you have to do something about it" because of rising Arab public anger over Israel's crackdown on Palestinians.

After the meeting, Bush repeated his demand that "all parties" Israelis, Palestinians and Arab neighbors have "responsibilities" in pushing for peace and he also called on the Palestinian Authority to do more to end "terrorism." Nevertheless, Abdullah decided to remain in the United States for two more days — a sign that he did not view the session as fruitless.

Bush said he was grateful for Abdullah's assurance that Saudi Arabia would not support any efforts by Arab states to join Iraq's oil embargo. "The Saudis do not want to threaten the relationship with the United States, a relationship that is built on Saudi oil in return for American security protection," Lalor said. "However, Saudi diplomats have been quoted as saying that in desperate times you have to do desperate things."

On Friday, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo denounced the absence of any new ideas at the [Bush-Abdullah] meeting, and warned that the US administration was "paying lip service to us while giving Israel effective support to carry on its war against the Palestinian people. By continuing to speak of [Palestinian] terrorism, a US green light is given to Sharon and his terrorist Government to press ahead with their killing, destruction and terrorism against the Palestinian people," he added.