Mallard began a flurry of letters to the district attorney in Suffolk County, the state attorney general, and his representatives. He then took his story to the Boston Globe and WBZ, both of which ran short pieces on it in 1981.

Shuttling back and forth between his Houston home and Washington, D.C., Mallard spoke to various State Department officials, but to no avail.

"In one week, three of the people who empathized with me were all transferred," he says.

Numerous congressional representatives have helped Mallard pursue his case. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Clayborne Pell (D-R.I.) and Larry Smith (D-Fla.) have all written letters to Saudi government officials about the case, but with similar results.

"We wrote to the Saudis on several occasions and got nothing substantive in reply," says George Pickart, a senior aide to Pell. "They are not trying to help resolve it."

Last month, during Senate confirmation hearings, Pell asked John Bookout, a candidate for ambassador to Saudi Arabia, whether he would take up Keene and Maes' case.

"I will urgently look into and vigorously protest all credible reports of torture," Bookout responded.

But Keene remains skeptical that their case will ever be won, saying the State Department has done "everything short of having the CIA come and rub me out."

"I want some type of policy so this does not happen to any other American who goes over there," Keene says. "But I don't think we will succeed."