US gives up search for body
2004-07-14 20:41
Riyadh - The US embassy here said on Wednesday the involvement of US experts in the search for the body of an American engineer beheaded last month after being taken hostage was "drawing to a close" without success.
"Our involvement in the search for the body of Paul Johnson is drawing to a close. We've done all that we can to recover" the remains of Johnson, who was kidnapped in Riyadh on June 12 by an al-Qaeda group, spokesperson Carol Kalin said.
The group posted grisly footage of Johnson's beheading on websites on June 18.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) experts took part in the three-week search, an embassy statement said.
It said the search for Johnson's remains was "drawing to a close," but Kalin stressed the embassy could not say if Saudi authorities too would stop looking for the body, adding that co-operation was continuing in the investigation of the murder.
- AFP