Didn't Ben shoot Locke and leave for dead in a pit? Shouldn't he be a little surprised about him showing up as good as gold? i just can't believe he hasn't said anything. And on that note, Ben was tied up in front of Naomi as she drug her bloody self away. He was trying to have her killed earlier, why not alert Jack to her gettting away?

I think Ben knew that if Locke really did have a communion with the Island (and thus could see Jacob), that he would be fine.

Also, did Ben really want Naomi dead? Or just to stop her from calling her boat?

Ben is a master of artful manipulation, I'm sure the character can control his facial expressions with ease. That being said, Ben knows the island very well. I bet that if the island wanted Locke to live, there would be nothing that Ben could do to stop this and he knows it. A shot to the gut that would leave a normal person slowly dying as the interior of his intestines drained into his body, was miraculously healed and Locke is walking around.
Re: Naomi. Ben didn't alert Jack probably because he didn't want Jack to provide medical support to the dying Naomi. Maybe, just to be a pain.

Maybe Ben somehow helped Naomi get away. He may have silently encouraged her to go.

Plus Ben had already seen Locke come back, when he killed Naomi, and then he yelled at John to shoot Jack until Rousseau knocked him out.

Ya, I don't care how smart I was, I'd be a little hesitant to join someone after I shot them.
But then again, maybe leaving the island is worse than being tortured.

I think if Ben really wanted Locke dead, he would have shot him a couple of more times when he left him in that grave. I believe he was testing Locke's connection with the island and/or Jacob. Ben can't deny it, Locke is special to the island and him showing up at the precise time to fling a knife into Naomi's back proved it. I'm sure Ben's slight shock at seeing Locke was quickly replaced by pure elation at what Locke had done to Naomi.

As far as Naomi, how did she manage to crawl away without anyone seeing her, except for Ben, of course? And I have a difficult time with this: Jack checked Naomi and I assumed he checked for her pulse. By his reaction, she was dead. Did he misdiagnose her? I find it hard to believe that she was still alive and Jack didn't try to help her, so I guess it's safe to say that Jack thought she was dead. It just seems weird to me that he wouldn't have known she was still alive.

As far as Ben wanting Naomi dead, I think at that point it didn't matter because she didn't have the phone anymore. Even though she was still alive, she was useless to contact her freighter without her phone.

I think if Ben really wanted Locke dead, he would have shot him a couple of more times when he left him in that grave. I believe he was testing Locke's connection with the island and/or Jacob. Ben can't deny it, Locke is special to the island and him showing up at the precise time to fling a knife into Naomi's back proved it. I'm sure Ben's slight shock at seeing Locke was quickly replaced by pure elation at what Locke had done to Naomi.

As far as Naomi, how did she manage to crawl away without anyone seeing her, except for Ben, of course? And I have a difficult time with this: Jack checked Naomi and I assumed he checked for her pulse. By his reaction, she was dead. Did he misdiagnose her? I find it hard to believe that she was still alive and Jack didn't try to help her, so I guess it's safe to say that Jack thought she was dead. It just seems weird to me that he wouldn't have known she was still alive.

As far as Ben wanting Naomi dead, I think at that point it didn't matter because she didn't have the phone anymore. Even though she was still alive, she was useless to contact her freighter without her phone.

The Naomi question bothers me as well... If Ben was testing Locke's relationship to the island, based on his belief that the island wouldn't save Locke unless he was "special", then why did the island heal Naomi in the last season? She miraculously recovered from her parachute accident..

Do both Ben and "The Island" know more about Naomi than we or even her comrades on the freighter know???

She is a very curious charachter, and I'm not at all convinced that she is dead, yet!!!