Terrorists in Saudi Arabia Kidnap American Civilian, Threaten to Kill Him

[Link47]

Source: http://www.thisislondon.com/til/jsp/...temId=11361956

'We will kill hostage in 72 hours'
By James Langton, Evening Standard In New York

Terrorists have threatened to kill a kidnapped American man before the weekend after parading him before cameras on an Islamic website.

The four-and-a-half minute video, shot using a night vision camera, showed a man identifying himself as Paul Johnson, a US contractor in Saudi Arabia who has been missing since Saturday.

It was accompanied by a threat to murder him within 72 hours unless the Saudi government releases al Qaeda prisoners.

Footage showed Mr Johnson with a bandage around his eyes and neck and wearing a torn orange uniform resembling those worn by prisoners in American military jails in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay.

In a slurred voice he identifies himself by name and as "a citizen of the United States" adding: "I work for Apache helicopters."

A masked man carrying an automatic weapon also appears on the tape, claiming to be Abdul Aziz al Mugrin, the military head of the "Fallujah squadron'', which claims to have ties to al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia.

Calling for the release of terrorists being held in three Saudi jails, the man threatens: " Otherwise we will execute him to avenge our Muslim brothers whose blood has been spilled freely in several parts of the world."

He adds that the blood of westerners will "fill up the Arabian peninsula this year" unless they leave at once.

The kidnappers also referred to the death of Kenneth Scroggs, an American killed in the Saudi capital Riyadh at the same time as Mr Johnson, from New Jersey, went missing.

An earlier statement from the group threatened to treat him in the same way as Iraqi detainees at Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison. US intelligence officials are taking the warnings seriously and say the website has been used by al Qaeda followers in the past.

Field engineer Mr Johnson, 49, had been working in Saudi Arabia for 10 years under a contract with defence contractor Lockheed Martin for Apache helicopters.

His son, also called Paul, asked people to "continue to pray for my father", saying he came from a "hard and strong working family".

Attacks in Saudi Arabia since 1 May have killed 29 foreigners, including a BBC cameraman who was shot dead last week.

Adel Al Jubier, an adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, said the tape showed "the cruel and inhuman face of the enemy that we're dealing with".

He said the Saudis were " determined to ensure the safety of the hostage and hopefully and God willing, we'll be able to free him and restore him to his family".

He warned the Saudi government had a policy of nonnegotiation with terrorists and would be unlikely to agree to the release of prisoners.

Earlier this week Britain began recalling diplomatic staff amid fears of continuing terrorist attacks on Western targets.

But, unlike Washington which has advised all its nationals to leave, the Foreign Office stopped short of advising the 30,000 British expatriates to pull out.

[ZeldaGirl]

I was just watching this on the news... how terrible.

[Juliet]

Originally posted by ZeldaGirl:
how terrible.

[Sim Kid]

How Dreadful...

[Nick]

So like, why does nobody care that the Saudis actively harbor terrorists like this? Oh wait, the massive amount of Saudi money that's dumped into the US political system has something to do with that (similar to China).

[Link47]

The Saudi royal family isn't harboring them, mainly cause the terrorists hate them and are actively trying to overthrow them. As for the rest of the people in the country, wouldn't suprise me if they were harboring terrorists, in fact, i'm sure they are.

[Ditto]

Ah, yes, that makes sense, Lurch. We're fighting the war on terror... but only against those who don't give us money? lol

The thing about the House of Saud (the Royal Family) is... some are on our side, some aren't. It's the darndest thing.

Saudi Arabia is a very repressive nation (my Pol. Sci. professor said possession of liquor is, like, punishable by death or torture or something), and as they don't care much for human rights in the pursuit of their radical orthodoxy, they're usually very good at rounding up whoever they're interested in catching.

This leaves me curious as to why they can't round up these people and stomp them out, except possibly because of inter-Royal-Family politics. The ones that support terrorists are able to protect them from the ones that round them up. It's the only reason I can think of.

The majority of the House of Saud is on our side, more or less, which is why they're considered an ally. I disagree with letting monsters like that be our allies (personally, I don't like making pacts with evil), but then again, I guess we're just working down the list of priorities. Their number will come up.

[ June 17, 2004, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: Ditto, Sadly, Not a Boss In SSB:M ]

[Link47]

Liquor is prohibited in Islam, so thats why it's banned in Saudi Arabia. Some countries, however, do allow it, and my history teacher told me that when he was living in Saudi Arabia, every Friday afternoon, the roads into Qatar, I believe it was, were packed with people going to drink for the weekend.

[Nick]

House of Saud funds extremist schools that preach anti-americanism and anti-westernism, has clear links to terrorist groups, and allows terrorists free access through their borders. Sure, they've expelled osama bin Laden, even if the bin Laden construction group was responsible for the restoration of Mecca.

Saudi money flows into the American political system almost as badly as Chinese money. Maybe that's why we've conviniently turned our heads to Saudi mistreatment of women, labor, haboring of terrorists, etc etc etc.

[Link47]

If the terrorists kill this guy, I'm all for war with Saudi Arabia. Level 'em.

[El Barto]

Well done, Lurch...

[Fishmael]

I heard they killed the man? Did they really?

[Dylan]

^ Yep. And apparently, the terrorist responsible for it is dead too.

~Dylan

[Link47]

http://www.vgf.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubbcg...;f=89;t=000392