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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi TV broadcast pictures Saturday of four bloodied bodies that authorities identified as the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom and three other militants killed in a gunbattle after dumping the mutilated body of 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." The death of al-Moqrin, 31,...

Liberal Democrats and the Left-Wing Media are Responsible for Johnson's Beheading - and Should ApologizeOnce again, in their quasi-religious zeal to tar the Bush administration for mere political gain, the media outlets that released, hyped, and faked photos of prisoner "abuse," and the liberal Democrat politicians who heinously fed the frenzy, are partially responsible for the beheadings of Nick Berg and Paul Johnson.  This is what happens when liberal zealots irresponsibly put politics above reason, logic, and humanity.Of course, the killers who executed this atrocity are directly to blame, but these liberal media outlets and politicians give them ready-made rhetoric,...

Web Site Denies Cell Leader Killed Saturday, June 19, 2004 CAIRO, Egypt — A message posted on an Islamic militant Web site Saturday denied that the leader of the Al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia had been killed. Abdulaziz al-Moqrin (search) had purportedly overseen the kinapping of Paul M. Johnson, the American whose decapitated body was found on Friday in Riyadh. Saudi officials claimed al-Moqrin, the reputed leader of the group calling itself Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (search), was killed in a shootout after Johnson's body was found. "Some satellite networks and news agencies have been propagating the...

June 19, 2004 -- NOT tomorrow, not the day after, but in a skinny minute, the following must happen. Every single mosque in this United States must make a simple statement. And that is: "We universally condemn the brutal execution of Paul Johnson." I mean every mosque. God, what have these putrid monsters posing as humans, wrought? To see the pictures of the beheading of this decent family man is to postpone sleep, lest nightmares become your master. His severed head is placed neatly on his lifeless torso as if to convey some kind of stomach-curdling trophy. A crude and...

<p>When news of the beheading of an American in Saudi Arabia by terrorists reached the nation yesterday, reactions were a mix of outrage and disgust.</p> <p>Rick Warren, a 44-year-old appliance technician in Lexington, Ky., was driving home from work when he heard about the death of Paul M. Johnson Jr. on the radio.</p>

Paul Johnson must have known there was no hope - not when he was in the hands of horror merchants who knew full well that their impossible ransom demands would never be met, not when the Saudi government had flatly stated there would not be negotiations with terrorists. All he could do was sit, helpless and alone, beyond any miracle, and wait for his awful slaughter to arrive. That was all any of the rest of us could do. Sit and wait, and shake our heads in anguish and sorrow. There was clearly going to be no saving the poor...

The beheading of Mr Johnson also drew expressions of outrage from leaders across the world. French President Jacques Chirac said he was "horrified" by the brutal killing while British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed "shock" and said it was new proof of the need to fight terrorists to the end. "People who can do such a thing are not people you can negotiate with," added Mr Blair, a staunch supporter of Mr Bush's war on terrorism. "They're people that you simply have to beat." United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said "these kinds of brutal acts do not help anybody"....

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - An al-Qaida cell beheaded American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., and in a swift retaliation, officials said Saudi security forces tracked down and killed the leader of the terrorist group in a shoot-out Friday. Johnson, who was kidnapped last weekend, was the latest victim of an escalating campaign of violence against Westerners that aims to drive foreign workers from the country and undermine the ruling royal family, hated by al-Qaida. The death hours later of Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom, was a coup for the Saudi government, which has been...

BRUSSELS, June 18 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday night strongly condemned the beheading of US hostage Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia by Islamic militants, saying he was "shocked" at the news. Blair made the remarks when asked to comment on the issue at a press conference after the European Union summit, extending his "deep sympathy" to Johnson's family. "The incident shows the nature of the people we are fighting," said Blair, the most staunch supporter of US President George W. Bush in the war on Iraq. "The people are not the ones you can negotiate with,"...

US Saudi hostage ultimatum looms People in Mr Johnson's hometown are rallying round his family Saudi authorities are stepping up their search for a US hostage whose captors have threatened to kill him on Friday if their demands are not met. Paul Johnson, 49, was seized in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, last Saturday. The group said on Tuesday he would be killed within 72 hours if al-Qaeda members in Saudi jails were not freed. Mr Johnson's Thai wife, Thanom, pleaded for his release on Arabic TV, as the US and Saudi Arabia insist they will not negotiate with hostage-takers. Door-to-door...

pq If Johnson is harmed, "I will never forgive you. I will curse you in all my prayers." POSTING BY MUSLIM FRIEND OF AMERICAN RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- U.S. and Saudi officials were working together to try to save an American hostage whose captors have said they would kill him today unless Saudi authorities release al-Qaida prisoners. Meanwhile, a Saudi who identified himself as a friend and colleague of Paul M. Johnson posted a message on Islamic militant Web sites, saying he had bestowed his protection as a Muslim on Johnson and that killing him would break Islamic law. If...

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...

By Joanne Morrison WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush vowed on Friday that the beheading of an American contractor in Saudi Arabia by "extremist thugs" would have not blunt U.S. resolve. "They're trying to shake our will; they're trying to get us to retreat from the world. America will not retreat. America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs," the president told reporters while traveling in Seattle. "There's no justification whatsoever for his murder ... They killed him in cold blood." Bush was commenting on the decapitation of aviation engineer Paul Johnson, 49, who had been taken hostage...

President Calls Contractor Murder Enemy's 'Evil Nature' By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 18, 2004 – President Bush today called the reported murder of a U.S. civilian contractor working in Saudi Arabia "the evil nature of the enemy we face." Paul M. Johnson Jr., 49, who worked for Lockheed Martin as an engineer specializing in Apache helicopter systems, was kidnapped June 12. U.S. officials confirmed that Johnson's body was found today near the Saudi capital city of Riyadh. Reports say the contractor had been beheaded. In Washington State this afternoon after an earlier visit with soldiers...

Hillary: we will not be deterred Friday June 18, 2004 (New York-AP) -- At a Democratic fund-raiser in Trenton, New Jersey, the crowd groaned this afternoon when New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton told them of Paul Johnson Junior's murder in Saudi Arabia. After expressing condolences to his family, Clinton said Johnson's senseless murder is an example that should strengthen the nation's fight against terrorism. ``This is what we are fighting against,'' Clinton said. ``Rest assured, we will not be deterred.'' Johnson's family is in seclusion at a house in Galloway Township, New Jersey, where they have been holding a...

RIYADH (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia beheaded American hostage Paul Johnson Friday and their leader was then killed in a shootout with security forces as he tried to dispose of the body, Saudi officials said. Abdulaziz al-Muqrin's Islamist group displayed photographs of the 49-year-old aviation engineer's severed head on a Web site. Shortly afterwards, as Muqrin and two other top militants deposited the body in the capital Riyadh, they were surrounded by Saudi security men and gunned down, a security source said. Muqrin, a young man driven by revenge and hatred for the United States and its...

Jun 18, 6:22 PM (ET) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia was believed killed in a raid in the capital Friday, hours after his group claimed the beheading of an American engineer, Saudi security officials said. A U.S. official confirmed that al-Moqrin has been killed. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information. To establish identities, one Saudi official said forensic tests would be conducted on three bodies of militants killed in a shootout in a downtown neighborhood shortly after the discovery of Paul M. Johnson...

AP) — A statement by Michael Berg, the father of slain businessman Nicholas Berg, on the killing of Paul M. Johnson Jr.: "We, the family of Nicholas Berg, extend our sympathies to the families of Paul M. Johnson, Robert Jacobs, Kenneth Scroggs, Bassam Salih Kubba and Kamal al-Jarah. We hope they will find the strength to endure the pain of their losses. We also extend our sympathies to all the families and friends of all the victims of this war, including United States military, other coalition military, contractors, and the 11,000-plus innocent Iraqi victims. We have been silent until now...

Just reported on Fox News

The website or mirrorsite apparently operated by the Saudi murderers of Paul Johnson and Robert Jacobs has been identified at URL: http://www.hostinganime.com/neda3/sout/index.htm