LAKE WORTH, April 19: Democrat John Kerry on Monday voiced unwavering support for special US ties with Israel and vowed to end "sweetheart relationships" with Arab countries like Saudi Arabia that he accused of funding terror.

Courting the Jewish vote in Florida, the state at the center of the disputed 2000 election, the presumptive Democratic nominee cited a report that President George Bush and his senior advisers made "a secret White House deal" with the Saudis to deliver lower gas prices.

"Last night ... it was reported that in the Oval Office discussion around whether to invade Iraq that the president, the vice president (Dick Cheney), the secretary of defence (Donald Rumsfeld) made a deal with Saudi Arabia that would deliver lower gas prices," Mr Kerry said.

"But here's the catch," he said. "The American people would have to wait until the election, until Nov of 2004."-Reuters