Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto Saudi ruler, who was appalled at the administration's apparent indifference to Palestinian suffering in the second intifada, told Bandar to deliver a tough message threatening to freeze relations.

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But in a media crisis, you can be perfectly on message for a solid hour and then have one 5 second aside that is off message and that is the quote that is blown up in headlines that will serve to identify you for the next decade in a damning manner.

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In April, after the boy had not returned for the second course, Bostrom called the family and left a message threatening to report them for child neglect, he said.

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