Johnson beheading 'barbaric'

2004-06-18 22:21

Riyadh - Islamist websites on Friday showed gruesome pictures of United States national Paul Johnson, who was taken hostage by al-Qaeda gunmen in Saudi Arabia, beheaded and his head placed on his back as he lay in a pool of blood.

There was no immediate word from Saudi authorities, but security forces were seen deployed in large numbers in the east of the capital amid reports that the body had been found dumped there.

Witnesses said three suspects were killed by Saudi security personnel, one of them apparently a wanted militant, shortly after news of the execution broke.

US secretary of state Colin Powell condemned what he described as an act of barbarism, but insisted that US and Saudi authorities would press their war against the militants, undaunted by the latest Western death in the kingdom.

A terse statement that accompanied the internet photos said: "Delivering on our promise, the mujahedeen from the Fallujah Squad slaughtered the American prisoner Paul Marshall Johnson after the ultimatum set by the mujahedeen to the tyrants of the Saudi government expired."

Signed by "al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula'

The sites carried three pictures of the beheaded captive, one of which showed him in a pool of blood with his head placed on his back.

Another showed the head on the back with a knife resting against the forehead, point first.

Johnson "met a just punishment... by getting a taste of what he inflicted on Muslims (bombed) by US aircraft and missiles," said the statement signed by "al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula."

There was no immediate official comment from the Saudi government, although a diplomat at the Saudi embassy in Washington confirmed the news.

Powell, too, emphasised that he was still awaiting final confirmation, but moved swiftly to condemn the killing.

"It's an action of barbarism, an action that shows, once again, what the world is dealing with, these kind of individuals who behead somebody or murder somebody in cold blood, an innocent individual just trying to help people and trying to do his job," he told reporters.

Would not strike a deal

"If anything, it will cause us - I'm quite confident it will cause our Saudi colleagues - to redouble our efforts to go after terrorists wherever they are, wherever they are trying to hide and go after those who support this kind of terrorism."

Throughout the crisis, since Johnson's abduction in Riyadh last Saturday - the same day another US national was killed in the Saudi capital - both Washington and Riyadh had steadfastly insisted that they would strike no deal with the hostage-takers.

"Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula" had posted a video on a website on Tuesday night threatening to kill 49-year-old Johnson unless the Saudi government freed detained militants, estimated at more than 700, within 72 hours.

Johnson's family were sequestered at the home of his sister, Donna Mayeux, in Eagleswood Township in New Jersey.

- AFP