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The Bush administration has not publicly called for the release of the detainees, mostly expatriate workers. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned against policy tradeoffs. Human-rights advocates believe the Bush administration will tolerate Saudi abuse of human rights as long as the Saudi royal family supports the war on terrorism. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met recently with Saudi leaders to shore up support for the American-led campaign against the Taliban.

Steve McFarland, the commission's executive director, believes the United States has significant clout with Saudi authorities. "It's not like the United States has its hat in hand," he says. "There are 10,000 gis that are the only thing standing between Riyadh and [Iraq's] Saddam Hussein." American military forces have been stationed in Saudi Arabia since the Gulf War.

The Saudi royal family has repressed internal political opposition. Saudi law requires the nation's 15 million citizens to remain Muslims. Anyone who abandons Islam faces the death penalty. From 1990 to 1999, Saudi Arabia executed 767 people, including 419 foreign nationals, for a variety of offenses. As the United States has increased support for the Saudi regime, Saudi terrorists have targeted Americans. A terrorist bombing in 1996 killed 19 American soldiers at a Saudi airbase in Dhahran.

Despite its record on human rights, the Saudi royal family has a reputation for attempting to stay "in the middle," according to Daniel Hoffman, director of Middle East Concern, a monitoring group. "In general, the Saudi civil authorities are aware of much more Christian activity than they take action against," he says.

According to Operation World, there are 807,000 Christians in the country. Most are expatriate workers. About 15,000 expatriate Christians worship each week in homes across Saudi Arabia, with just a handful of Saudis among them. The country's 7 million foreign workers—about one-third the population—are allowed to worship in their homes.

Saudi religious police arrested Isaac on July 19, turning him over to the Ministry of Interior. On July 25, authorities arrested Iskander Menghis, a Christian from Eritrea whose name was found on Isaac's personal computer. Under intense questioning, Isaac and Menghis reportedly revealed the names of underground-church leaders in Jeddah. That led to another 11 arrests in August and September.

Middle East Concern reported those arrested as Tinsaie Gizachew, Ibrahim Mohammed, Baharu Mengistu, Beferdu Fikri, and Araya Gesesew of Ethiopia; two citizens of Ethiopia identified only as Worku and Tishome; Kebrom Haile and Joseph Girmaye of Eritrea; Afobunor Okey Buliamin of Nigeria; and Dennis Moreno of the Philippines.

Authorities released Tishome after he converted to Islam under duress, according to Washington-based International Christian Concern (ICC). Hoffman says interrogators beat Buliamin and two unidentified Ethiopians. But they have treated the others well.

Isaac's wife, Socilia, wept as she apologized for her husband's betrayal of other Christians. "He just couldn't take the severe pressure they were putting him through," she told ICC.

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December 3 2001, Vol. 45, No. 15