1.   He had trouble finding a job, and his friends deserted him.

2.   And his show-biz friends deserted him.

3.   For the past several years, the National Endowment for the Arts has been teetering on the brink of execution, surrounded by enemies, deserted by friends.

4.   She said Izetbegovic and her former Moslem friends had deserted her in her hour of need.