Security forces 'helped kidnap murdered hostage'

The al-Qaida group that beheaded an American engineer said sympathisers in the Saudi security forces provided police uniforms and cars used during the victim’s kidnapping, according to an Islamic extremist website.

The account of the abduction of Paul Johnson, who was later decapitated, highlighted the fears expressed by some diplomats and westerners in the kingdom that militants had infiltrated Saudi security forces – a possibility Saudi officials have denied.