Posted on 06/18/2004 7:54:02 AM PDT by kattracks
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - With helicopters flying overhead, thousands of Saudi police searched for American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr. on Friday, as a deadline loomed for the kingdom to release al-Qaida prisoners or see him killed.Police went through several Riyadh neighborhoods from Thursday night through Friday morning, but authorities gave no indication they were any closer to Johnson, a Lockheed Martin employee who was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling itself al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The organization is believed to be headed by Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, the top al-Qaida figure in Saudi Arabia.
In Johnson's hometown of Eagleswood Township, N.J., relatives held a vigil Thursday night to pray for his safe return.
The kidnappers released a video tape of Johnson on Tuesday night saying they would kill him unless the Saudi government released all militants in its prisons within 72 hours. The Saudis have rejected the demand.
It is not known exactly when the deadline expires as the time of the video tape's release to an Islamic Web site was not clear. But it is presumed the deadline runs out Friday evening Saudi time or Friday afternoon eastern U.S. time.
People living in the districts, which lie in western and southern Riyadh, suggested that the kidnappers enjoy popular support, partly because of U.S. policy in Iraq (news - web sites) and its perceived backing for Israel.
"How can we inform on our brothers when we see all these pictures coming from Abu Ghraib and Rafah," Muklas Nawaf, a resident of Dhahar al-Budaih, said as he ate meat grilled on a spit at a restaurant called Jihad, Arabic for holy war. He was referring to the pictures of Iraqis abused by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and Israeli military incursions and killings in the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah.
"This is not a little skirmish. It is a war," Nawaf said.
A man who was shopping in Sweidi with his family said Friday he saw little prospect of Johnson's life being spared.
"These (kidnappers) are holy warriors, heroes, who never waver, even if they will fail," Mizahen al-Etbi told the AP. "All Saudis hate Americans, not only these heroes."
But the preacher of Riyadh's Imam Sultana Mosque implored the kidnappers to release Johnson in a column published in Al-Riyadh newspaper on Friday.
"O, youth of the nation who have trodden the wrong path, come back to the fold of the community of Islam. Avoid this sedition and be obedient to the ruler of the Muslims," Sheik Mohammed bin Saad al-Saeed wrote.
Johnson's Thai wife, Thanom, appealed for her husband's release in an interview broadcast Friday on the Saudi-owned satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya.
"When I see his picture in TV, I fall down," she said, fighting back tears. "When I hear the name Paul Johnson, I cry a lot. He is my only family here."
At one stage in the interview, she stopped talking, looked down with creased brow, and fought to contain her tears.
A senior Saudi official in the United States said Thursday night that U.S. and Saudi officials have had few promising leads in their search for Johnson.
The Saudi official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the probe, said there had been no communications from the kidnappers except for the video and statement on the Web site.
The FBI (news - web sites) has sent a team of about 20 specialists in hostage rescue, hostage negotiations, profiling and other specialties who were working directly with Saudi officials, the official said.
More than 15,000 Saudi officers have been deployed in the search of Riyadh, going door-to-door in some neighborhoods. More than 1,200 Saudi homes had been searched as of Thursday night.
"We are even using the fire department, for instance, because they have knowledge of their neighborhoods, and districts," the official said.
In a letter posted late Wednesday on Web sites where al-Qaida supporters and other militants leave messages, a man who identifies himself as Saad al-Mu'men — a pseudonym meaning "Saad The Believer," — urges militants to spare Johnson, saying killing him would violate Islamic law. "I will curse you in all my prayers" if he is harmed, it warned.
The writer said he had given Johnson his protection under Islam, and quoted the Prophet Muhammad as saying: "If they were granted (Muslim) protection, then killing or taking their money or harming them is forbidden."
The writer also said Johnson had expressed opposition to U.S. foreign policy and an interest in converting to Islam.
The letter was posted on Web sites known for Islamic extremist writings and was subsequently posted on the Web site of the Saudi-owned satellite television channel Al-Arabiya.
Other contributors to the Islamic Web sites ridiculed the message and called for Johnson's death.
Al-Arabiya told the AP that al-Mu'men had contacted the station but agreed to be identified only by the pseudonym. The station said it had confirmed the man it interviewed was the author of the letter, but it did not say how.
Al-Mu'men refused an interview with the AP in a message relayed through the station.
Friends and relatives of Johnson sang "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America" as they held candles and small flags at a vigil late Thursday in Eagleswood, New Jersey, a town where the engineer grew up.
"Your love, your prayers and your support are appreciated," his niece Angel Roork said at the vigil.
Amid concern over Johnson's fate, the U.S. State Department updated a 2-month-old travel warning for Saudi Arabia, pointing out that attacks on Americans there have resulted in deaths and injuries and, in a reference to Johnson, a kidnapping.
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Associated Press reporters John Solomon in Washington, Tarek al-Issawi in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Maggie Michael in Cairo, Egypt contributed to this report.
..."All Saudis hate Americans"... and all Saudis love Wahhabism.
It's just after six PM there. Praying that a miracle happens for Johnson.
My fervant prayers have been - and continue to - go up for this man.
God, please have mercy on him. Please open the eyes of his captors and plant the seeds of compassion in them. Please let his rescuers find him in time, and please grant him a safe return to his family.
Amen
He's dead now.
I just heard. My hatred for this 'religion of peace' is deep. The other shoe needs to drop on these people. We need to finish this fight - with great force.
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