J-10
06-21-2004, 04:02 AM
Monday June 21, 2004 8:16 AM
By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press Writer
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The al-Qaida group responsible for beheading an American engineer said sympathizers in the Saudi security forces provided police uniforms and cars used during the victim's kidnapping, according to an Islamic extremist Web site Sunday.
The account of the abduction of Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was later decapitated, highlighted the fears expressed by some diplomats and Westerners in the kingdom that militants have infiltrated Saudi security forces - a possibility Saudi officials have denied.
The article recounting the abduction appeared in Sawt al-Jihad, or Voice of the Holy War, a semimonthly Internet periodical posted by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula - the group that claimed responsibility for killing Johnson.
According to the account, militants wearing police uniforms and using police cars set up a fake checkpoint June 12 on al-Khadma Road, leading to the airport, near Imam Mohammed bin Saud University.
``A number of the cooperators who are sincere to their religion in the security apparatus donated those clothes and the police cars. We ask God to reward them and that they use their energy to serve Islam and the mujahedeen,'' the article read.
When Johnson's car approached the checkpoint, the militants stopped it, detained him, anesthetized him and carried him to another car, the article said. Earlier Saudi newspaper reports said Johnson was drugged during the kidnapping.
In a separate article on the Web site, the leader of the al-Qaida cell behind the abduction, Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, justified the targeting of Johnson, pointing to his work on Apache attack helicopters for Lockheed Martin. Al-Moqrin and three other militants were killed Friday in a shootout with Saudi security forces hours after Johnson's death became known.
Johnson ``works for military aviation and he belongs to the American army, which kills, tortures and harms Muslims everywhere, which supports enemies (of Islam) in Palestine, Philippines, Kashmir,'' wrote al-Moqrin.
On Sunday, police continued their search for Johnson's body and the militants involved in his death.
``We are still combing through neighborhoods. And we hope that eventually we'll find the body and restore it to his family,'' Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign affairs adviser of Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington, said on CNN's ``Late Edition.''
Police cars, armored vehicles and a large contingent of emergency forces blockaded the al-Malaz area Sunday in a search for suspects, security officials said. Witnesses saw suspects fleeing into a house in the neighborhood after police fired at them at a traffic light.
Hours later, the blockade was lifted and security forces left. It was unclear whether anyone was arrested.
On Sunday night, scores of Saudi men, mostly in their 20s and 30s, paid visits to the gas station where al-Moqrin and the three others were killed.
``This should be turned into a national monument,'' said Mohamed Ibrahim Shakir. ``Every Saudi should come here and pray to God. We got rid of these terrorists.''
The men counted more than two dozen bullet holes in the facade of the run-down shop. Shopkeeper Ibrahim al-Shamari said the militant leader was shooting at security forces from behind a refrigerator when he was killed.
``Every Saudi should be proud of this. I should have brought my wife and children to see the end of this man,'' Khalil bin Othman said.
One security officer was killed and two were wounded in the shootout, the official Saudi news agency reported.
Al-Moqrin is believed to have had a leading role in the stepped-up campaign of militant violence in the kingdom, which in recent months has seen bombings and gun attacks on foreigners.
Saudi King Fahd said Sunday that militants would not succeed in their aim to harm the kingdom.
``The perpetrators of these attacks aimed at shaking stability and crippling security - and it is a far fetched aim, God willing,'' he said in a speech to the advisory Shura Council. ``We will not allow this destructive bunch, led by deviant thought, to harm the security of this nation or affect its stability.''
Johnson was seized June 12, the same day Islamic militants shot and killed Kenneth Scroggs of Laconia, N.N., in his garage in Riyadh. Earlier that week, militants in the capital also shot and killed Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers, who was filming for the British Broadcasting Corp., and another American, Robert Jacobs, of Murphysboro, Ill.
Johnson's captors said they would kill him on Friday unless Saudi Arabia released jailed al-Qaida militants.
Sunday's al-Qaida article said the militants decided to behead Johnson when Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington, declared that Saudi Arabia would not negotiate with the kidnappers.
``The stupid Saudi government took the initiative and announced by the Americanized tongue Adel Al-Jubeir that it will not submit to the conditions of the mujahedeen,'' the statement read.
The group said it beheaded Johnson, 49, of Eagleswood Township, N.J., when its deadline expired Friday.
Asked about the al-Qaida statement on CNN's ``Late Edition,'' al-Jubeir said, ``We have never negotiated with terrorists. We don't intend to do so.
``I believe what the al-Qaida people were trying to do is trying to justify a murder that is unjustifiable under any faith or under any principle of humanity.''
From (http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4227483,00.html)
By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press Writer
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The al-Qaida group responsible for beheading an American engineer said sympathizers in the Saudi security forces provided police uniforms and cars used during the victim's kidnapping, according to an Islamic extremist Web site Sunday.
The account of the abduction of Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was later decapitated, highlighted the fears expressed by some diplomats and Westerners in the kingdom that militants have infiltrated Saudi security forces - a possibility Saudi officials have denied.
The article recounting the abduction appeared in Sawt al-Jihad, or Voice of the Holy War, a semimonthly Internet periodical posted by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula - the group that claimed responsibility for killing Johnson.
According to the account, militants wearing police uniforms and using police cars set up a fake checkpoint June 12 on al-Khadma Road, leading to the airport, near Imam Mohammed bin Saud University.
``A number of the cooperators who are sincere to their religion in the security apparatus donated those clothes and the police cars. We ask God to reward them and that they use their energy to serve Islam and the mujahedeen,'' the article read.
When Johnson's car approached the checkpoint, the militants stopped it, detained him, anesthetized him and carried him to another car, the article said. Earlier Saudi newspaper reports said Johnson was drugged during the kidnapping.
In a separate article on the Web site, the leader of the al-Qaida cell behind the abduction, Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, justified the targeting of Johnson, pointing to his work on Apache attack helicopters for Lockheed Martin. Al-Moqrin and three other militants were killed Friday in a shootout with Saudi security forces hours after Johnson's death became known.
Johnson ``works for military aviation and he belongs to the American army, which kills, tortures and harms Muslims everywhere, which supports enemies (of Islam) in Palestine, Philippines, Kashmir,'' wrote al-Moqrin.
On Sunday, police continued their search for Johnson's body and the militants involved in his death.
``We are still combing through neighborhoods. And we hope that eventually we'll find the body and restore it to his family,'' Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign affairs adviser of Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington, said on CNN's ``Late Edition.''
Police cars, armored vehicles and a large contingent of emergency forces blockaded the al-Malaz area Sunday in a search for suspects, security officials said. Witnesses saw suspects fleeing into a house in the neighborhood after police fired at them at a traffic light.
Hours later, the blockade was lifted and security forces left. It was unclear whether anyone was arrested.
On Sunday night, scores of Saudi men, mostly in their 20s and 30s, paid visits to the gas station where al-Moqrin and the three others were killed.
``This should be turned into a national monument,'' said Mohamed Ibrahim Shakir. ``Every Saudi should come here and pray to God. We got rid of these terrorists.''
The men counted more than two dozen bullet holes in the facade of the run-down shop. Shopkeeper Ibrahim al-Shamari said the militant leader was shooting at security forces from behind a refrigerator when he was killed.
``Every Saudi should be proud of this. I should have brought my wife and children to see the end of this man,'' Khalil bin Othman said.
One security officer was killed and two were wounded in the shootout, the official Saudi news agency reported.
Al-Moqrin is believed to have had a leading role in the stepped-up campaign of militant violence in the kingdom, which in recent months has seen bombings and gun attacks on foreigners.
Saudi King Fahd said Sunday that militants would not succeed in their aim to harm the kingdom.
``The perpetrators of these attacks aimed at shaking stability and crippling security - and it is a far fetched aim, God willing,'' he said in a speech to the advisory Shura Council. ``We will not allow this destructive bunch, led by deviant thought, to harm the security of this nation or affect its stability.''
Johnson was seized June 12, the same day Islamic militants shot and killed Kenneth Scroggs of Laconia, N.N., in his garage in Riyadh. Earlier that week, militants in the capital also shot and killed Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers, who was filming for the British Broadcasting Corp., and another American, Robert Jacobs, of Murphysboro, Ill.
Johnson's captors said they would kill him on Friday unless Saudi Arabia released jailed al-Qaida militants.
Sunday's al-Qaida article said the militants decided to behead Johnson when Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington, declared that Saudi Arabia would not negotiate with the kidnappers.
``The stupid Saudi government took the initiative and announced by the Americanized tongue Adel Al-Jubeir that it will not submit to the conditions of the mujahedeen,'' the statement read.
The group said it beheaded Johnson, 49, of Eagleswood Township, N.J., when its deadline expired Friday.
Asked about the al-Qaida statement on CNN's ``Late Edition,'' al-Jubeir said, ``We have never negotiated with terrorists. We don't intend to do so.
``I believe what the al-Qaida people were trying to do is trying to justify a murder that is unjustifiable under any faith or under any principle of humanity.''
From (http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4227483,00.html)