Posted on 07/21/2004 4:53:52 AM PDT by angkor
CAIRO, Egypt - The head of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped and beheaded by militants in Saudi Arabia last month, was found in a raid on the house of Saudi Arabia's al-Qaida leader, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.
Authorities said the head was found as Saudi security forces raided the home of Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi. Two militants were killed and three were wounded in the sweep, but it was not clear if al-Aoofi was among them.
A Saudi Interior Ministry official who reported the gunbattle and raid late Tuesday said authorities were holding the wife and three children of al-Aoofi.
In a statement, broadcast on Saudi al-Ekhbariya television monitored in Cairo, the Interior Ministry said the head was found in a freezer in the apartment. The statement said the rest of the body was not found.
Johnson, a 49-year-old engineer who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, was kidnapped June 12 by militants in Riyadh who followed through on a threat to kill him if the kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners. An al-Qaida group claiming responsibility posted an Internet message that showed grisly photographs of a beheaded body. Later, video of the beheading was posted.
Johnson's son in Florida, Paul Johnson III, 28, had been pressing U.S. officials to do more to find his father's body.
"Two militants were killed and three were wounded in the sweep, but it was not clear if al-Aoofi was among them."
Didn't the Saudi's say they killed al-Aoofi just a few hours after the beheading?
Damn.
Why keep the head? Sick.
Must have read the Idi Amin playbook !
Completely sick.
It's kind of a tradition among Muslims. Back in the early days of Islam, the heads of an imam's enemies who were killed in a far off land like Spain might be pikcled and send back to the imam.
No, Muqrin was the AQ leader killed a short time after the beheading.
In Kashmir they would behead and then take the heads to mosques in Pakistan for show and tell, the glory of the jihad and all that BS.
Headnappings were quite the fashion in Kashmir in the late 90's into 2002.
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