US in shock after beheading

2004-06-19 22:51

Washington - Anger and revulsion swept the United States over the gruesome beheading of US engineer Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia.

President George W Bush and other US officials condemned the beheading as "barbaric."

"The killers are "trying to intimidate America. They're trying to shake our will. They're trying to get us to retreat from the world," Bush said during a campaign stop in the northwestern state of Washington.

"America will not retreat. America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs," Bush vowed, urging: "We must pursue these people and bring them to justice before they hurt other Americans."

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who has been critical of Riyadh and its ties to Bush, denounced the beheading as "a grotesque act" - and had stern words for the Saudis.

"It is essential that we have the full co-operation of the Saudi government in tracking down these terrorists and destroying al-Qaeda. This must be our nation's highest priority," Kerry said in a statement.

Islamist websites showed grisly pictures of Johnson's body lying in a pool of blood, his severed head placed on his back.

Meanwhile, the Saudi interior ministry confirmed on Saturday that al-Qaeda's suspected leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, was one of four militants gunned down on Friday night in an operation targeting the perpetrators of recent "criminal" attacks against "some Riyadh residents."

The offensive came shortly after Muqrin's "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" group carried out its threat to execute Johnson.

Home town in shock

Johnson, who was kidnapped last weekend, had lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years and worked for aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin.

Eagleswood, New Jersey, the small town where he grew up, was in shock and mourning over his death.

For the past several days, yellow ribbons, usually displayed in honour of soldiers deployed abroad, had been tied to lamp posts and trees on the town's main street as a sign of hope that Johnson would return home safely.

Late on Thursday, on the eve of the execution deadline set by his captors, about 100 people gathered to pray and light candles at an event headed by Dennis Seeley, chaplain of the Eagleswood Fire Company.

But with the announcement on Friday of Johnson's beheading, Seeley had nothing but words of anger.

"They have hit small-town America," he said.

"They don't even listen to their own people," he added, referring to a Saudi appeal to end the killing of non-Muslims in the kingdom.

- AFP