The speaker on the video threatening to kill American Paul Johnson if their demands aren't met identified himself as Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, who is believed to lead al Qaeda operations in Saudi Arabia.
(ABCNEWS.com)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/Investigation/johnson_kidnap_demands_040618-1.html
Alleged Al Qaeda Member Details Rules for Hostage-Taking
In a video posted Tuesday on the Internet, the speaker identified himself as Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, who is believed to lead al Qaeda operations in Saudi Arabia and is well known to Saudi officials as a ruthless man.
Al-Moqrin said Johnson's captors would kill him if al Qaeda prisoners in Saudi Arabia were not released within 72 hours. Johnson was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling itself "Al Qaeda Organization in the Arab's Peninsula," also known as "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."
ABC News has obtained an article published on the Internet two months ago, attributed to al-Moqrin, detailing the rules of hostage-taking.
"Start to kill the hostages if there is any procrastination, so that the enemy knows that we are serious about what we say, which would give the group credibility," advised the author of the chilling article.
Among the purposes of hostage-taking, the author of the article wrote, is to "force the government or the enemy to submit to some demands," and "to embarrass the government politically in front of the country of those who were kidnapped."
The article also advised that governments usually don't submit to kidnappers' demands, and if they do submit to one of the demands, "it is probably a trick." It is forbidden to lengthen the hostage-taking time, "because the ability of the team is then weakened and the tension increases, while the security efforts increase."
Saudi official Nair al-Jubier said, "These criminals know what they're doing. There will be no negotiations with them."