Posted on 06/21/2004 4:29:58 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie
AL-QAEDA has named Saleh Al-Awfi, a disgraced former prison guard and ex-Madina car dealer, as Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin s successor to head the terrorist organization s Saudi Arabia cell, according to sources.
Al-Awfi s reported appointment demonstrates the damage Al-Qaeda sustained when Al-Muqrin, responsible for the Friday beheading of American Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr., was killed by security forces several hours later in a firefight in Riyadh.
Muqrin was killed with three other extremists identified by security forces as Faisal Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Dakheel, Fehaid Al-Mutairi and Ibrahim Al-Duraihem.
Meanwhile, the search for Johnson s body continued late Sunday with little success. Police in armored vehicles cordoned off three Riyadh neighborhoods and searched several residences during the early morning hours as a helicopter hovered overhead.
Security officials say that Al-Awfi does not have the international experience and extensive military training of Al-Muqrin.
Al-Awfi was a prison guard with the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia, but was fired for misbehavior. He ranked No. 4 on the most wanted list, but moved up after the deaths of his confederates.
Sources close to Al-Awfi's family said he had met with Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and Taleban leader Mullah Omar shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
Al-Awfi had discussed meeting the two leaders in August and September 2001 during his last reported stay in the Kingdom. Sources said he went to Afghanistan following the US-led attack there. Al-Awfi was closely linked to other terrorists including Khaled Mohammed Al-Johani, who staged a suicide attack on a residential compound in Riyadh in May 2003, according to sources.
Al-Awfi first went to Afghanistan in 1993.
In 1995, he suddenly established a car dealership in Madina and traveled to Germany through Dubai several times under cover of importing cars, one source said.
Al-Awfi s last visit to the Kingdom was said to be in late 2002 to attend his father s funeral when he showed up disguised as a woman.
However, his tribe rejected him because they said he incited extremist beliefs among its youth and recruited some to go to Afghanistan.
In the search for Johnson s body, law enforcement men searched areas that included the district of Malaz, site of a gun battle on Friday that ended with the death of Al-Muqrin.
Police sealed off neighboring districts as well, searching cars that tried to leave. Dozens of police moved in to search houses.
As the search continued, more details of Johnson s kidnapping have emerged. According to sources inside the Ministry of Interior, Johnson was driving his car along the road that leads to King Faisal Specialized Hospital and Al-Rabee District at the time of his abduction.
The kidnappers were hiding behind trees on the road close to the Imam University a short distance from a police checkpoint. They stopped him and took him out of his car and injected him with a sedative.
The attackers then took him in another car and attempted to burn his car but the police found it before it became engulfed. The syringe was found inside the car. When attempts were made to call his mobile phone, it was shut off.
Sources noted that it was unusual that Johnson took an exit that was not regularly taken by other motorists, although it was believed to have been a shortcut to his home. It appears that the militants observed and followed him carefully.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference and Gulf states of Bahrain and Qatar Sunday condemned Johnson s execution as barbaric.
Islam recommends the protection of foreigners ... and prohibits killing innocent people among these foreigners, OIC chief Abdelwahed Belkeziz said in a statement in Jeddah.
In Cairo, the Arab League condemned the crimes and reaffirmed the need to put an end to the terrorist operations which have struck Saudi Arabia, Secretary General Amr Moussa said.
Bahrain s King Hamad described the killing as a criminal act perpetrated by a group of saboteurs, the state news agency BNA reported.
"How you doing, my main man? Can I interest you in like-new '89 Honda Civic? No? Well, a f***ing jihad on you then!"
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