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The militants didn't quite get away with the Paul Johnson killing. Saudi forces killed al-Morqrin, the head of the Saudi al-Qaida terrorist cell yesterday.
| quote: | Saudis: Hostage's Slayers Die in Shootout
By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi TV broadcast pictures Saturday of four bloodied bodies of four suspected militants, including the al-Qaida chief in the kingdom, who were shot to death hours after killing American Paul M. Johnson Jr.
Saudi officials said Johnson's beheaded corpse still has not been found, contradicting earlier reports that it was dumped outside the capital, Riyadh.
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."
Hours after Johnson's slaying, security forces at a roadblock intercepted al-Moqrin and the other militants in their car, sparking a gunbattle that ended with the four being killed, Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, told reporters at the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
He said initial reports from Saudi officials that the militants were traced after a witness saw them dumping Johnson's body were incorrect.
"We haven't found (Johnson's) body yet," al-Jubeir said, adding that security agents were searching the northern outskirts of Riyadh. "We think we know the area where it is," he said.
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."
Al-Jubeir said that with al-Moqrin's death "we have substantialy weakened the organization ... We will continue to pursue them with vigor until we eliminate them from our midst."
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.
Al-Jubeir said security forces who had been scouring the capital for days, using moving roadblocks, found the car carrying al-Moqrin and his colleagues in Riyadh's al-Malaz neighborhood. A gunbattle erupted and lasted for several hours, as "the terrorists tried to shoot their way out," he said.
The militants were cornered at a nearby gas station, officials said. The Saudi news network Al-Ekhbariya broadcast footage of the station showing blood on the street and on merchandise inside.
One security officer was killed and two wounded, the state Saudi Press Agency reported. Two suspects escaped, according to a Saudi security official who participated in the fight.
Twelve suspected militants have been arrested in the sweep of the capital, al-Jubeir said. He said they were "mainly" Saudi citizens.
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.
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, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Al-Muteiry was among the militants involved in a May 29 attack in the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people, the report said. Al-Dreiham was linked to the Nov. 8 suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17.
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. |
US just struck an Al-Zarqawi cell (the group responsible for the last beheading) in Fallujah as well, killing about 18 in an airstrike. Secondary explosions from stored munitions for IEDs lasted about 20 minutes afterwards.
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