Posted on 06/19/2004 11:16:46 AM PDT by kattracks
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi TV broadcast pictures Saturday of four bloodied bodies reportedly those of al-Qaida's top leader in the country and three other militants, who Saudi officials said were slain in a gunbattle after killing an American hostage.The al-Qaida cell allegedly led by Abdulaziz al-Moqrin fulfilled its threat to kill engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., beheading him and showing grisly photos on the Internet on Friday. The slaying drew a chorus of condemnation from around the world, with even one of America's staunchest foes, Syria, calling it a "shameful crime."
Saudi officials said that al-Moqrin and the other militants were killed in a gunbattle hours later in the Saudi capital, after they dumped Johnson's body from their car.
However, the governor of Riyadh said Saturday that Johnson's body has not been found, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The comment would appear to contradict earlier accounts that the body was found just outside the capital, and the discrepancy in reports could no immediately be reconciled.
The death of al-Moqrin, 31, would be a coup for Saudi Arabia's government, which has been beset by a wave of attacks on Westerners aimed at driving foreign workers from the kingdom and undermining the ruling royal family.
James Oberwetter, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, welcomed the development but warned it didn't mean the threat of violence has ended.
"A great deal was accomplished last evening. We also believe that much remains to be done," Oberwetter told reporters. "The Saudis are doing an excellent job of working on their most wanted list — and working people off that list — but not everyone who is a threat has been removed from the list and maybe there are many more."
Oberwetter said American officials have not seen Johnson's body.
The televised pictures of the dead militants appeared to be aimed at refuting denials by Islamic militants that he was killed. A posting on an Islamist Web site Saturday said claims of al-Moqrin's death were "aimed at dissuading the holy warriors and crushing their spirits."
A picture of one of the dead men showed the face of a young man, clean-shaven except for his mustache and resembling past pictures believed to be of al-Moqrin. Al-Ekhbariya, an all-news Saudi satellite channel, showed a full photograph of the same corpse, covered with blood.
A trickle of blood ran from the mouth of another of the militants pictured, and the teeth of a third appeared smashed.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday confirmed al-Moqrin's killing, while a Saudi official said forensic tests would confirm the body's identity.
How they died, however, remained unclear, particular after the governor's report that Johnson's body was not found.
The Interior Ministry said only that the four were killed in "confrontations" with security forces.
But Saudi officials said the gunbattle came after a witness saw Johnson's body being dumped from a car and informed police of the car's license number.
Police stopped the car at a gas station in Riyadh's al-Malaz neighborhood and a fierce gunbattle erupted, during which the four militants died, the officials said. Al-Ekhbariya broadcast footage of the station showing blood on the street and on merchandise inside.
An Interior Ministry identified the four dead as al-Moqrin, Faisal Abdul-Rahman al-Dikheel, Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry and Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Dreiham.
The Saudi Press Agency said al-Dikheel, also on the kingdom's list of the 26 most-wanted militants, was involved in a number of killings and apparently was featured in video footage of Johnson's slaying.
It said Al-Muteiry was among the militants involved in a May 29 attack in the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people. Al-Dreiham was linked to the Nov. 8 suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17.
In Friday night's gunbattle, one security officer was killed and two wounded, the SPA reported. Two suspects escaped, according to a Saudi security official who participated in the fight.
The Interior Ministry statement said authorities had confiscated three cars used by al-Moqrin's cell, including one believed to have been used in the June 6 killing of Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers.
Also confiscated were forged identity papers, $38,000 and a weapons cache, including three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades and automatic rifles, the statement said.
Johnson, 49, who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, 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.
Three photos of Johnson's body were posted on the Web as the deadline ran out. One showed his severed head, face toward the camera, being held by a hand. Two other pictures showed a body lying on a bed with the head placed in the small of the back. The body was in a bright orange jumpsuit, similar to one Johnson was seen wearing in earlier videos released by the kidnappers.
A statement, in the name of Fallujah Brigade of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said that "the infidel got his fair treatment. ... Let him taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles."
Johnson had worked on Apache helicopters for Lockheed Martin.
President Bush condemned the beheading and vowed that "America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs." British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the killing "an act of barbarism." Condemnation also came from Arab governments and Islamic leaders in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.
Ahmad Haj Ali, a Syrian Information Ministry official, called Johnson's killing "a shameful crime, which is alien to Arab and Muslim morals." In Jordan, King Abdullah II said on state-run Jordanian radio it was "scary and humiliating that this crime has been committed in the name of Islam."
Johnson was seized June 12, the same day that Islamic militants shot and killed Kenneth Scroggs of Laconia, N.H., in his garage in Riyadh. Earlier that week, militants shot and killed another American, Robert Jacobs of Murphysboro, Ill., and Cumbers in Riyadh.
I don't believe them.
Neither do I.
I wonder what "expert analysis" is code for. "Gee, it looks like him, must be him!"
Quote from Colin Powell:
Secretary of State Colin Powell said he does not want American workers to flee Saudi Arabia because that would reward the people whose violence in recent weeks has killed Johnson, two other Americans and more than two dozen other foreigners.
Speaking a day after the State Department strongly urged Americans to avoid going to Saudi Arabia and those there to leave, Powell said Friday in a radio interview: "If they leave, then the terrorists have won, and I don't think either the Saudis, the Americans, or these brave folks who work in Saudi Arabia want the terrorists to win."
Saudi officials agreed with that view in weekend appearances.
Who is the State Department working for, anyway?
1)Someone saw them dump the body and took down the license plate #.
2)The terrorists were seen at a gas station and when approached they opened fire. A four hour gunfight then ensued.
3)They were caught at a roadblock set up (and constantly moving) to capture terrorists.
According to http://www.scramble.nl/sa.htm the section on the Royal Saudi Land Force says: "The Royal Saudi Land Forces received its own aircraft in 1986 when the US Congress agreed with the delivery of 15 Bell 406CS Combat Scout that were eventually delivered in the second half of 1990. Earlier that same year the RSLAF received 13 S-70A Black Hawks. The RSLF received 12 Boeing AH-64A Apaches in 1993."
My guess is that Johnson was working on these for the Saudi government.
"I don't believe them"
"Neither do I."
Nor do I!!
I'm not sure... If this guy shows up in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, or whatever, the Saudi's international credibility and prestigue will be poisoned (I know you will say "it already is!" but international diplomacy is different than that of public opinion). I have a feeling that the terrorist is quite dead.
While I agree with what you have said, their story has changed at least 3 times within the past 24 hours. If I didn't know better, I would say that Kerry was running the show and getting the information out through the 911 Commission. LOL
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