Saudi Arabia aired photographs yesterday on national TV of four wanted militants killed in a firefight after dumping the mutilated body of a US hostage, including the bloodied corpse of the reputed leader of al-Qaeda in the kingdom.
The al-Qaeda cell allegedly led by Abdulaziz al-Moqrin fulfilled its threat to kill Paul M. Johnson, Jr., beheading him and showing the grisly photos on the Internet on Friday.
Afterward, US and Saudi officials said privately that al-Moqrin was killed in a shootout.
PHOTO: AP
A statement posted yesterday on an Islamist Web site denied that, saying such claims were "aimed at dissuading the holy warriors and crushing their spirits."
The killing of al-Moqrin, 31, would be a coup for the Saudi government, which has been pressed to halt a wave of attacks against Westerners in the kingdom.
Condemnation of Johnson's killing came from around the world, with even one of the US' staunchest foes, Syria, calling it a "shameful crime."
One of the photographs, the Saudi TV announcer said, was of Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the kingdom's most-wanted terror suspect. It showed the face of a young man, clean-shaven except for his mustache and resembling past pictures believed to be of al-Moqrin, apparently dead. Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbariya showed a full shot of al-Moqrin's 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.
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) identified the three other militants killed as Faisal Abdul-Rahman al-Dikheel, Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry and Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Dreiham.
The four were cornered at a gas station in the al-Malaz neighborhood in the capital Riyadh, and died in a heavy exchange of gunfire with Saudi security forces. Al-Ekhbariya featured footage of the gas station where the shootout took place, with blood on the street and covering some merchandise inside.
According to the SPA statement, al-Dikheel -- also on the kingdom's list of the top 26 wanted militants -- was involved in a number of killings and was apparently featured in video footage of Johnson's killing. Al-Muteiry was among the militants to flee the scene of the May 29 shooting and hostage-taking attack on the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people, and al-Dreiham was linked to last Nov. 8's suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17, the statement added.
One security officer was killed in the Friday raid and two others were injured, the statement on SPA said.
Saudi officials in Washington said on condition of anonymity that five Saudi security officers were killed in the gunbattle. Two suspects escaped, said a Saudi security official who participated.
Al-Moqrin was believed to be behind numerous attacks on foreigners in the kingdom, including the kidnapping and ultimate beheading of Johnson, an employee of the US defense contractor Lockheed Martin whose death was reported on Friday.
Saudi newspapers denounced Johnson's killers and hailed the efforts of Saudi security forces. The Interior Ministry provided no details on how the operation -- said to have begun with a citizen calling in the number of the vehicle from which Johnson's body was dumped -- played out.
However, the statement said that authorities also confiscated three cars used by the cell, including one believed to have been used in the June 6 killing of Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers.
Forged identity papers and a large amount of weapons also were confiscated, including three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades and automatic rifles, the statement said.
Johnson's severed head was shown on a Web site on Friday. A statement, in the name of Fallujah Brigade of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said "the infidel got his fair treatment. ... Let him taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles."
Johnson had worked on Apache helicopters for Lockheed Martin.
Also See Story:
World leaders slam hostage beheading
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS