Saudis find murdered American hostage’s head
The Saudi interior ministry said that Paul Johnson’s head was discovered in a freezer in a house, although his body was not found. A further search was being conducted for that. Two militants were killed during the raid.
The spokeswoman for the US embassy in Riyadh, Carol Kalin, said that Saudi authorities had informed the embassy of the discovery and that consular officials in Washington were in the process of notifying Mr Johnson’s family.
The interior ministry said the raid occurred in the King Fahd neighbourhood of the capital Riyadh. An earlier statement said the authorities were holding the wife and three children of Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi, the man believed to be al-Qaida chief in Saudi Arabia, after the raid.
Mr 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 on June 17. Later, a video of the beheading was posted on the internet.
Hours after the pictures of the beheading appeared, Saudi security forces shot and killed Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the alleged mastermind of Mr Johnson’s kidnapping and killing.
Last week, US authorities announced the search for Mr Johnson’s body had been called off.
The dead man’s son, also called Paul, said he has received no official confirmation about the discovery.
The younger Johnson had flown to Washington DC for a press conference with Democratic senator Bill Nelson urging the Saudi embassy in the US to release more information about the search for his father’s body.
The elder Johnson was an engineer for Lockheed Martin who worked on Apache helicopters.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said the discovery was made after a search of one of three locations following the Tuesday night raid. Weapons, including an anti-aircraft SAM-7 missile that appeared in previous militant videotapes, explosives, chemicals, video cameras and cash were among the items seized.
One of the militants killed in the raid, identified by the Interior Ministry as Issa Saad Mohammed bin Oushan, is on the Saudi government’s list of wanted militants. A number of militants were wounded and arrested, but they have not been named.
Pan-Arab news channels have reported that al-Aoofi, who is believed to have succeeded al-Moqrin, may be among the casualties.
A Saudi Interior Ministry official, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency, said three members of the security forces were wounded in a gunbattle.
The fighting erupted when security forces came under “heavy fire” from hand and rocket-propelled grenades while inspecting a residence suspected of being used by militants.
Another group of militants then fired on the policemen who were engaging the first group of militants in an attempt to distract members of the security forces. The Saudi authorities are still pursuing the second set of gunmen.
Two more suspects were seized after searches of three other locations.
The shootout was the most serious since Saudi forces killed al-Moqrin.
King Fahd last month offered militants amnesty if they turned themselves in before Friday. He said he wouldn’t seek the death penalty for those who surrendered. Four militants have come forward so far - including Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harby, a confidant of Osama bin Laden - and the security forces have stepped up their efforts to capture those holding out.
In the past year, Saudi Arabia has been rocked by suicide bombings, gunbattles and kidnappings targeting foreign workers. The attacks have been blamed on al-Qaida and supporters of the network headed by Saudi dissident bin Laden.
Al-Qaida wants to topple the Saudi royal family and replace it with its own Islamic government.
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