SAUDI ARABIA - June 18 - Saudi Forces Kill Muqrin After Beheading Of US Hostage.An Al-Qaeda cell beheads American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr. in the Malaz district of Riyadh after the government refused to respond to the group's demand to release all Qaeda prisoners in the kingdom. In a swift retaliation, special Saudi security forces tracked down and killed the local leader of Al-Qaeda, Abdel Aziz Al-Muqrin Abdel Aziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Muqrin (Arabic: عبد العزيز عيسى عبد المحسن المقر? , together with three other Qaeda operatives in the Malaz area in the centre of Riyadh. This occurred in a battle shortly after the Wahhabi militants dumped Johnson's body in an area north of Riyadh. Officials later said Muqrin and his three colleagues were slain after special security forces tracked down the car that dumped Johnson's body and was returning to the Malaz district of Riyadh. A witness had reported the licence plate licence plate n → (placa de) matrícula number of the militants' car. The special forces then stopped the vehicle at a petrol station. But it was too late to save Johnson, whose severed head was shown on a website. In a video posted on the Internet on June 15, a hooded Muqrin held an assault rifle assault rifle Military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. and shouted demands for the release of Al-Qaeda prisoners as Johnson sat blindfolded blind·fold tr.v. blind·fold·ed, blind·fold·ing, blind·folds 1. To cover the eyes of with or as if with a bandage. 2. To prevent from seeing and especially from comprehending. n. 1. and wearing an orange-coloured dress - the same as those Al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held by the US at Guantanamo Bay Noun 1. Guantanamo Bay - an inlet of the Caribbean Sea; a United States naval station was established on the bay in 1903 bay, embayment - an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf , Cuba. An accompanying statement said: "Let him (Johnson) taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles". (Johnson, 49, worked on Apache attack helicopter A helicopter specifically designed to employ various weapons to attack and destroy enemy targets. systems for Lockheed Martin). Twelve other Wahhabi militants were arrested on June 18, including a senior figure suspected of involvement in the 2000 bombing of the US warship warship, any ship built or armed for naval combat. The forerunners of the modern warship were the men-of-war of the 18th and early 19th cent., such as the ship of the line, frigate, corvette, sloop of war (see sloop), brig, and cutter. Cole off the coast of neighbouring Yemen. Saudi foreign policy adviser Adel Al-Jubeir in Washington said: "We believe that with this blow to Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia yesterday (June 18), we have substantially weakened their organisation. We will continue to pursue them with vigour until we eliminate them from our midst. We will show no mercy". Pres Bush said the beheading "shows the evil nature of the enemy we face. They're trying to get us to retreat from the world". He added: "America will not retreat. America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs. May God bless Paul Johnson". Five Saudi security officers were killed in the battle. Two suspects escaped. Johnson is the second American to be kidnapped and beheaded be·head tr.v. be·head·ed, be·head·ing, be·heads To separate the head from; decapitate. [Middle English biheden, from Old English beh in the Middle East in just over a month. American businessman Nicholas Berg was beheaded by his Wahhabi captors in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, and his last moments later appeared on a videotape posted on an Al-Qaeda-linked website. His body was found on May 8. US officials say Al-Qaeda-linked Wahhabi militant Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi may have been Berg's killer. |
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