Post by "BIGTYME" on Jun 19, 2004 1:53:04 GMT -5
Updated: 2:23 a.m. ET June 19, 2004RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - An al-Qaida cell beheaded American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., and in a swift retaliation Saudi security forces tracked down and killed the leader of the terrorist group in a shootout Friday.
President Bush vowed that “America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs.”
Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom, was killed along with other militants, Saudi officials said.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed al-Moqrin’s killing. A Saudi official said forensic tests would be conducted on the body to confirm his identity.
The killing of al-Moqrin, 31, would be a coup for the Saudi government, which has been under intense pressure to halt a wave of attacks against Westerners in the kingdom. In a video posted on the Internet Tuesday, a hooded man identified as al-Moqrin held an assault rifle and shouted demands for the release of al-Qaida prisoners as a blindfolded Johnson sat in a chair.
Killing of leader denied
Shortly after discovering Johnson’s body, Saudi police swooped down on the al-Malz neighborhood in central Riyadh and exchanged fire with al-Qaida suspects.
But a Web posting that appeared Saturday denied al-Moqrin was killed.
"Some satellite networks and news agencies have been propagating the false news that Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, God preserve him, has been killed," the statement said, using a different spelling of his name. "We would like to say that such claims, unleashed by the tyrants of Saudi Arabia, are aimed at dissuading the holy warriors and crushing their spirits."
The statement was impossible to verify but appeared on a Web site where similar claims have been made in the past. It began with a Quranic verse that urges believers to ensure the truth of information they receive, and was similar in appearance and tone as past messages.
It said another statement would appear soon.
Saudi officials in Washington said on condition of anonymity that four militants and five Saudi security officers were killed in the gunbattle. Two suspects escaped, said one Saudi security official who took part in the raid. A Saudi official said three security officials were killed and two wounded in the shootout.
A Saudi security official said a witness took note of the license number of a car from which Johnson's body had been dumped and told police. Police stopped the car at a gas station and the shootout ensued.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV identified two of the dead militants as brothers Faisal Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Dakheel and Bandar Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Dakheel, both on the government’s most-wanted list.
Al-Moqrin’s fighters are blamed in a string of terror strikes in Saudi Arabia in recent months, among them the May 29 shooting and hostage-taking attack on the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people, most of them foreign, and the Nov. 8, 2003, suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17, most of them non-Saudi Muslims working in the kingdom.
A senior Saudi official in Washington said a second operation aimed at al-Qaida supporters or suspects was under way. Al-Arabiya later reported that operation had ended but provided no details.
The executioners’ photographs and statement, in the name of Fallujah Brigade of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, appeared on a Web site hours after Johnson’s wife went on Arab television and tearfully pleaded for his release.
Johnson, who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, was the latest victim of an escalating campaign of violence against Westerners that aims to drive foreign workers from the kingdom and undermine the ruling royal family, hated by al-Qaida. Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida’s leader, is a Saudi exile.
Johnson, 49, who worked on Apache attack helicopter systems for Lockheed Martin, was kidnapped last weekend by militants who threatened to kill him by Friday if the kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners. The Saudi government rejected the demands.
'America will not retreat'
Bush, who learned of Johnson’s death after a speech to troops at Fort Lewis, Wash., said the killing “shows the evil nature of the enemy we face.”
“They’re trying to get us to retreat from the world,” Bush said. “America will not retreat. America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs. May God bless Paul Johnson.”
After Johnson’s death was reported, his family was in seclusion at a townhouse in Galloway Township, N.J., where they had been holding a vigil. Relatives were seen leaving the house in a van and car Friday evening. Later, an FBI spokesman conveyed the family’s wishes that its members be allowed to grieve in private.
President Bush vowed that “America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs.”
Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom, was killed along with other militants, Saudi officials said.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed al-Moqrin’s killing. A Saudi official said forensic tests would be conducted on the body to confirm his identity.
The killing of al-Moqrin, 31, would be a coup for the Saudi government, which has been under intense pressure to halt a wave of attacks against Westerners in the kingdom. In a video posted on the Internet Tuesday, a hooded man identified as al-Moqrin held an assault rifle and shouted demands for the release of al-Qaida prisoners as a blindfolded Johnson sat in a chair.
Killing of leader denied
Shortly after discovering Johnson’s body, Saudi police swooped down on the al-Malz neighborhood in central Riyadh and exchanged fire with al-Qaida suspects.
But a Web posting that appeared Saturday denied al-Moqrin was killed.
"Some satellite networks and news agencies have been propagating the false news that Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, God preserve him, has been killed," the statement said, using a different spelling of his name. "We would like to say that such claims, unleashed by the tyrants of Saudi Arabia, are aimed at dissuading the holy warriors and crushing their spirits."
The statement was impossible to verify but appeared on a Web site where similar claims have been made in the past. It began with a Quranic verse that urges believers to ensure the truth of information they receive, and was similar in appearance and tone as past messages.
It said another statement would appear soon.
Saudi officials in Washington said on condition of anonymity that four militants and five Saudi security officers were killed in the gunbattle. Two suspects escaped, said one Saudi security official who took part in the raid. A Saudi official said three security officials were killed and two wounded in the shootout.
A Saudi security official said a witness took note of the license number of a car from which Johnson's body had been dumped and told police. Police stopped the car at a gas station and the shootout ensued.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV identified two of the dead militants as brothers Faisal Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Dakheel and Bandar Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Dakheel, both on the government’s most-wanted list.
Al-Moqrin’s fighters are blamed in a string of terror strikes in Saudi Arabia in recent months, among them the May 29 shooting and hostage-taking attack on the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people, most of them foreign, and the Nov. 8, 2003, suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17, most of them non-Saudi Muslims working in the kingdom.
A senior Saudi official in Washington said a second operation aimed at al-Qaida supporters or suspects was under way. Al-Arabiya later reported that operation had ended but provided no details.
The executioners’ photographs and statement, in the name of Fallujah Brigade of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, appeared on a Web site hours after Johnson’s wife went on Arab television and tearfully pleaded for his release.
Johnson, who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, was the latest victim of an escalating campaign of violence against Westerners that aims to drive foreign workers from the kingdom and undermine the ruling royal family, hated by al-Qaida. Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida’s leader, is a Saudi exile.
Johnson, 49, who worked on Apache attack helicopter systems for Lockheed Martin, was kidnapped last weekend by militants who threatened to kill him by Friday if the kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners. The Saudi government rejected the demands.
'America will not retreat'
Bush, who learned of Johnson’s death after a speech to troops at Fort Lewis, Wash., said the killing “shows the evil nature of the enemy we face.”
“They’re trying to get us to retreat from the world,” Bush said. “America will not retreat. America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs. May God bless Paul Johnson.”
After Johnson’s death was reported, his family was in seclusion at a townhouse in Galloway Township, N.J., where they had been holding a vigil. Relatives were seen leaving the house in a van and car Friday evening. Later, an FBI spokesman conveyed the family’s wishes that its members be allowed to grieve in private.
