Beheaded man's body sought

2004-07-13 20:33

Amman - The brother of an American beheaded last month in Saudi Arabia and a US-based peace activist have petitioned the Saudi ambassador in Washington for news on the missing body of Paul Johnson.

"Mr (Wayne) Johnson and I request un urgent meeting with you as soon as possible," Indian-born evangelist Dr K A Paul said in a letter to Ambassador Bandar bin Sultan.

The letter, co-signed by Paul Johnson's brother Wayne, said they wanted "to hear directly from a trusted Saudi authority exactly what has happened," to Johnson's body after he was beheaded by Islamic militants in Saudi Arabia last month.

"Saudi reports indicate that the perpetrators were killed as they were trying to dispose of Paul Johnson's body. If that is true, then where is the body?

"If the reports are not correct, we would like a truthful accounting of precisely what happened," they said in the letter dated July 10.

Paul Johnson was kidnapped June 12 in Saudi Arabia, where he lived for 10 years and worked for aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin. He was beheaded by his captors a week later.

Saudi security forces said they shot dead the chief of the group who had abducted him, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, and three top associates during a gun battle in Riyadh on June 18.

But Johnson's body was never found.

His brother and Paul travelled last week to the family home in Jordan of suspected al-Qaeda top operative Abu Mussab Zarqawi, in what they said was part of efforts to secure the return of Paul Johnson's body.

The evangelist, who claims he helped put an end to seven wars, including conflicts in Liberia and Haiti, said his organisation, Global Peace Initiative, was committed to helping the Johnson's find closure, "no matter how much it costs us".

- AFP