J-10
06-18-2004, 07:43 PM
Saudi Says Top Al Qaeda Leader Muqrin Killed
June 18, 2004 — RIYADH (*******) - Saudi security forces killed the kingdom's top al Qaeda leader Abdulaziz al-Muqrin and two other militants on Friday shortly after the group beheaded U.S. engineer Paul Johnson, a senior security source said.
"Yes it is correct, he (Muqrin) was killed with two other senior militants," the source told *******. He said Muqrin was one of three militants killed in the al-Malazz area of the capital, Riyadh, in a shootout.
Muqrin claimed responsibility for the beheading of Johnson and the killing of other Westerners in the kingdom, which has battled Osama bin Laden's group for over a year.
Al Arabiya television said another militant had been arrested in the massive security operation in the al-Malazz area.
The source said Muqrin and his men were killed while they were trying to dispose of Johnson's body. He said forces had combed four Riyadh areas before honing in on a building where the militants were holed up.
Arabiya television showed footage of police cars and crowds in Malazz, a middle class residential area of the capital.
Muqrin, a hardened militant driven by revenge and hatred for the United States and pro-American Arab rulers, was Saudi Arabia's most wanted al Qaeda leader.
He was a veteran of Bosnia's 1992-95 war between Muslims, Serbs and Croats and Islamist militant expert Mohsen al-Awajy said he was also one of a hit squad that tried to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995.
Muqrin spent two years in jail in Ethiopia before he was extradited to Saudi Arabia in 1998. He served two years at a jail and was subjected to "intolerable torture," Awajy said.
From (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/*******20040618_393.html)
June 18, 2004 — RIYADH (*******) - Saudi security forces killed the kingdom's top al Qaeda leader Abdulaziz al-Muqrin and two other militants on Friday shortly after the group beheaded U.S. engineer Paul Johnson, a senior security source said.
"Yes it is correct, he (Muqrin) was killed with two other senior militants," the source told *******. He said Muqrin was one of three militants killed in the al-Malazz area of the capital, Riyadh, in a shootout.
Muqrin claimed responsibility for the beheading of Johnson and the killing of other Westerners in the kingdom, which has battled Osama bin Laden's group for over a year.
Al Arabiya television said another militant had been arrested in the massive security operation in the al-Malazz area.
The source said Muqrin and his men were killed while they were trying to dispose of Johnson's body. He said forces had combed four Riyadh areas before honing in on a building where the militants were holed up.
Arabiya television showed footage of police cars and crowds in Malazz, a middle class residential area of the capital.
Muqrin, a hardened militant driven by revenge and hatred for the United States and pro-American Arab rulers, was Saudi Arabia's most wanted al Qaeda leader.
He was a veteran of Bosnia's 1992-95 war between Muslims, Serbs and Croats and Islamist militant expert Mohsen al-Awajy said he was also one of a hit squad that tried to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995.
Muqrin spent two years in jail in Ethiopia before he was extradited to Saudi Arabia in 1998. He served two years at a jail and was subjected to "intolerable torture," Awajy said.
From (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/*******20040618_393.html)