U.S. says al-Qaeda targeting Saudi regime

[seemslikeadream]

Last Updated Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:41:58
RIYADH - Saudi and U.S. authorities are working closely to locate an American engineer who has disappeared in Riyadh, amid claims that al-Qaeda has kidnapped him.


INDEPTH: Saudi Arabia

Paul M. Johnson, an American aeronautics engineer is believed to have been taken captive on Saturday.

Paul M. Johnson (AP photo)
An alleged al-Qaeda group has also claimed responsibility for the shooting death of an American citizen on Saturday.

Witnesses said the shooting happened while the victim was parking his car in front of his villa in the al-Malaz suburb of the city. It was the third attack on Westerners in a week.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said officials in Saudi Arabia recognize that "there is a serious problem" in the kingdom. Powell said that the killing of foreigners in the country is a direct attack on the Saudi regime.

"Terrorists are going after the Saudi leadership, they're trying to make the country unstable. I know that the Saudis are treating it with the utmost seriousness and they're counter-attacking. They've done some rolling up of these terrorist organizations but clearly this is a dangerous time for Saudi Arabia, and we are working with them and co-operating with them in every way that we can to defeat these terrorists."
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/13/saudiarabia040613

[shraby]

1. The Saudis are

trying to close the barn door a little late. The horses are already out.

[seemslikeadream]

2. FAMILY AWAITS WORD

Jun 13, 2004 5:43 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J.) Family members of Paul M. Johnson Jr., an American apparently abducted by al-Qaida-linked militants, said Sunday they are hoping for his speedy release.

"I just don't want to hear bad news because I know they're sadistic," said his brother, Wayne Johnson, 48.

An al-Qaida statement, posted late Saturday on an Islamic Web site, showed a passport-size photo of Paul Johnson and a Lockheed Martin business card bearing his name.

Johnson's son, Paul Johnson III, of Cocoa, Fla., told NBC News that his father moved to Saudi Arabia in 1983 to work for Lockheed Martin.

Paul Johnson Jr.'s mother, Delores Johnson, lives with Wayne Johnson in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township, N.J.

more
http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_165175039.html

nice photo ID here
Son: Kidnapped American Is Former Brevard County Man
Cocoa resident Paul Johnson III identified the photograph as his father and told WESH-TV Saturday night that his father has worked in the Middle East since 1992.

The son said his father lived in Brevard County for 20 years before that.

Johnson told WESH that he was still waiting for official word on his father's status from the U.S. State Department or Lockheed Martin.

Johnson said better security measures could have prevented his father's kidnapping.
more
http://www.wesh.com/news/3413102/detail.html


Kidnapped American is former Brevard County man


Paul M. Johnson
Video Story



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Cocoa, Florida - A central Florida man says the American kidnapped in Saudi Arabia is his father. The U.S. government and Lockheed Martin haven't identified the abducted man. But the kidnappers released a passport-size photo of a brown-haired man and a Lockheed Martin business card bearing the name Paul M. Johnson. It said he was born in 1955.

Cocoa resident Paul Johnson the Third identified the photograph as his father and told WESH-TV last night that his father has worked in the Middle East since 1992. The son says his father lived in Brevard County for 20 years before that. At the son’s house Sunday, eight yellow ribbons are tied on trees in the front yard of the single-story, cinderblock house. Johnson told WESH Saturday night that he was still waiting for official word on his father’s status from the U.S. State Department or Lockheed Martin. Johnson says better security measures could have prevented his father’s kidnapping.

more
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=8633

[Fridays Child]

3. Could it be that there's more than one way to open up the...

...Saudi spigots? After all, isn't Al Qaeda a wholly owned subsidiary of Bushco?

[punpirate]

4. Powell really needs to brush up on the...

... meaning of irony. "... clearly this is a dangerous time for Saudi Arabia, and we are working with them and co-operating with them in every way that we can to defeat these terrorists."

We invade a country, kill a bunch of people, terrorize many of the rest, because they aren't involved in terrorism. Saudi Arabia, a monarchy policed by religious zealots who fund the terrorists with money from the princes, gets the complete co-operation of the United States.

Since both have oil, I wonder about that contradiction. :eyes:

[JNelson6563]

5. Saudis are extremely vulnerable.

In fact, I'd wager they're what ya might call "goners".

Then we will long for the days of paying $2.50 for a gallon of gas.

Julie

[seemslikeadream]

6. Al-Qaida kills third Westerner in a week

Al-Qaida kills third Westerner in a week
By DONNA ABU-NASR in Riyadh
14jun04
THE al-Qaida terrorist network escalated its anti-Western campaign in the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia yesterday, kidnapping one US worker and killing another at his home.

The dead man, identified as Kenneth Scroggs, is the third Westerner killed in the kingdom in a week. He was shot in the back as he parked his car in his home garage.

The slaying and abduction were the latest attacks in a campaign of violence in the kingdom, believed by many to be aimed at driving out foreigners as a way of sabotaging the vital Saudi Arabia oil industry.

In a statement posted on an Islamic website, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the shooting and the abduction of aeronautics engineer Paul M. Johnson, 49, threatening to treat the captive as US troops have treated Iraqi prisoners.

"Our fighters of the Fallujah Brigade in the Arabian peninsula have kidnapped an American, a Christian, Paul M. Johnson Jr, born in 1955 and working as an aeronautics engineer," said the statement signed "al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula".
more
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9836347%255E912,00.html

[seemslikeadream]

10. Saudi Militants Claim American Taken Hostage

Three Westerners have been killed in the Saudi capital in a week, including Robert Jacobs, of Murphysboro, Ill., who was killed in his parking garage Tuesday. Several Islamic Web sites were carrying links to a videotape - purportedly from al-Qaida - that claims to show Jacobs being killed.

Jacobs, 62, worked for U.S. defense contractor Vinnell Corp.

A woman who would only identify herself as Jacobs' sister told The Associated Press over the telephone Sunday that the family knew about the video that purported to show his slaying, but she would not comment.

more
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/apress_061304_americankilled.html

[seemslikeadream]

20. Robert Jacobs Loved Going to Camel Races in Riyadh

Robert Jacobs Loved Going to Camel Races in Riyadh
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News


WASHINGTON, 10 June 2004 — Robert C. Jacobs, the American citizen who was shot and killed on Tuesday at his home in Riyadh, refused to live on his company’s heavily-fortified compound, preferring to live among Saudis in a middle class neighborhood.


Jacobs, 63, was an employee of Vinnell Corp., a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp. He lived in Saudi Arabia for seven years, where he trained the National Guard in graphic design. “He was training people, but not in warfare,” Mrs. Jacobs explained to her local newspaper.An unknown assailant shot and killed Jacobs at his home, said a spokesman for Vinnell Corp., which is based in Fairfax, Virginia. “He was found by another employee at his apartment and taken to a hospital, but did not survive,” said a company spokesman, Jay McCaffrey.


Robert and his sister Janice, an official with the US State Department in Washington, now working with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge on visa issues, were home-schooled in Ethiopia and attended French schools while living in France. Mrs. Jacobs, who lost her husband 10 years ago, said their youngest daughter, Linda, was born in Thailand.

Mrs. Jacobs said she had discussed the idea of her son returning home to the US, and the decision “was up in the air.” Yesterday, when she returned home from doing charity work in town, she said she thought her son had surprised her and returned “because there were so many cars in the driveway. I thought he was here because the last time I spoke to him, he told me: ‘I’ll probably be seeing you before too long,’” she said.

She is unsure when her son’s body will be returned to their hometown of Murphysboro, Illinois. She said her daughter told her that because terrorists possibly killed Jacobs, the FBI would take part in the investigation of his death. “We don’t know anything more. My daughter said the body has to go to Dover, Delaware, first because of the terrorist connection.”
more
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=46543&d=10&m=6&y=2004

[seemslikeadream]

18. Filipino Wife of Slain American Yet to Recover From Shock

Filipino Wife of Slain American Yet to Recover From Shock
Chito P. Manuel • Saeed Haider, Arab News

RIYADH/DAMMAM, 14 June 2004 — “He was a wonderful, loving husband. Our relationship was near perfect. I’ll treasure the memories of our time together.”

Estela Menor Scroggs is the Filipino wife of American Kenneth Scroggs, who was gunned down in Riyadh on Saturday. Al-Qaeda lost no time claiming responsibility for the shooting, the third such attack on Westerners in a week.

When contacted by Arab News yesterday, Estela sounded as if the news had yet to sink in and confused from an apparent lack of sleep.

“I’m sorry if I can’t go on any further. I’m in no mood to talk,” said Estela, a dentist and native of Pangasinan native back in the Philippines. She and Scroggs, who worked with Advanced Electronics Company, had no children.

Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla told Arab News he was able to get in touch with the grieving Estela Sunday and conveyed the condolences and sympathies of the Philippine government.

“I told her the Philippine Embassy will always be there should she need any assistance,” said Guinomla.

For the third time now, Filipinos have become indirect or direct victims of terror in the Kingdom. On May 22, a German married to a Filipino was killed in Riyadh, while three Filipinos died and three were wounded in the Alkhobar shooting spree and hostage drama on May 29.


more
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=46788&d=14&m=6&y=2004

[seemslikeadream]

7. Abducted American sought in Saudi Arabia

Abducted American sought in Saudi Arabia
al-Qaida-linked militants claim responsibility for kidnapping, also for killing of American Saturday; Reports of found Westerner's body denied



By DONNA ABU-NASR
Associated Press Writer
Originally published June 13, 2004, 5:52 PM EDT
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - With the kidnapping of an American and threats to inflict on him the same degrading punishments seen at Iraq's U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison, suspected al-Qaida terrorists appear to have unleashed a new tactic in their violent drive against Saudi Arabia's rulers.

Saudi authorities searched Sunday for Paul M. Johnson, an American who was apparently abducted by militants who also claimed responsibility for gunning down another American in Riyadh, the day before.

It was the third killing of a Westerner in the Saudi capital in a week, part of a stepped up campaign aimed at driving out foreigners and sabotaging the oil sector, key to the Saudi economy and basis of the rule by the kingdom's royal family.

The U.S. Embassy warned that the attacks appeared to follow extensive surveillance of the two Americans slain over the past week. Kenneth Scroggs was shot in the back as he parked in the garage at his home on Saturday. Last Tuesday, Robert Jacobs was also killed in his parking garage.

The killings "involved extensive planning and preparation," a U.S. Embassy warden message said. "Often, this pre-attack surveillance can be detected."

more
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/custom/attack/bal-saudi0613,0,3440140.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

Abducted American Sought in Saudi Arabia

Sunday June 13, 2004 8:16 PM


By DONNA ABU-NASR

Associated Press Writer

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Authorities searched Sunday for an American apparently abducted by al-Qaida-linked militants who claimed responsibility for gunning down another American in the Saudi capital, the third killing of a Westerner in a week.

The kidnapping, the first of a Westerner in the kingdom, appeared to be a new tactic in a campaign of violence in the kingdom believed to be aimed at sabotaging the vital Saudi oil sector.

A statement purporting to be from al-Qaida threatened to treat the abducted American as U.S. troops treated Iraqi prisoners - a reference to sexual and other abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Saudi security officials reported that the body of a man, possibly a Westerner, was found in the capital Sunday. But Riyadh's police chief later said no Westerner's body was discovered.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saudi Arabia is mobilizing all of its resources against al-Qaida-linked militants but, he added, ``I think that there is more that they can do.''
more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4200739,00.html

[seemslikeadream]

13. Saudi police chief denies report of Westerner's body found

Saudi police chief denies report of Westerner's body found
By Associated Press
Sunday, June 13, 2004

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Riyadh's police chief tells the official Saudi Press Agency that reports a Westerner's body was found in the capital are false.

Security officials had earlier said the body of at least one man was found near the National Guard headquarters. Officials had said the man could have been a Westerner -- though the nationality was unconfirmed.

The report follows yesterday's shooting death of one American and kidnapping of another.

more
http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=31746



Al Qaeda Escalates Anti-Western Attacks in Saudi


"These groups are divided into small cells which are spread out. The only way to know when they are going to hit next is to penetrate them. You cannot guard the entire kingdom so it is a matter of intelligence," Khalid al-Dakheel told Reuters.

The Web site that carried the kidnapping claim also posted a video showing the purported killing of another American, military contractor Robert Jacobs, in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The latest attacks came two weeks after 22 people were killed in shootings and hostage-taking in the oil city of Khobar. Last week, a BBC cameraman was killed and a correspondent wounded in a drive-by shooting in Riyadh.
more
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=TCGA55C1VLCUYCRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5408090&pageNumber=1

[seemslikeadream]

8. US warns Riyadh against Al Qaeda

RIYADH: The US embassy in Riyadh on Sunday listed a sweeping range of precautions it urged American residents of Saudi Arabia to take, one day after a US national was killed and another reportedly abducted by suspected Al-Qaeda members, AFP reported.

The United States has warned that Al Qaeda’s determination to stage attacks within Saudi Arabia posed a serious threat to the kingdom and made it a dangerous place for foreigners.

“Clearly, Al Qaeda has been determined to try and carry out attacks in Saudi Arabia,” National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told CNN.

A new US embassy message warning Americans said, “Avoid areas frequented by westerners and avoid establishments at times when westerners constitute the majority of the patrons.”

The message urged Americans to vary their times and routes and be “unpredictable in your work and social schedules”.

It advised them to keep a low profile, not to get “boxed in” in traffic and be “prepared to take evasive action at any time,” and to check their vehicles thoroughly before getting into them.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-6-2004_pg7_9

[goforit]

9. Al Qaida = Bush!!!!...............Totally expected!!!!

[markses]

11. No shit, geniuses

Thanks for the fucking update. Of course, most people paying attention knew this quite some time ago, but the official government pronouncement, I suppose, authorizes us to go into full panic mode.

A more incompetent administration of the US government is difficult to imagine. They're fools.

[seemslikeadream]

12. “Everybody knows that these helicopters are used by the Americans

Sources said that Johnson has been working with Lockheed Martin for the past six years. He is one of four experts in Saudi Arabia working on developing Apache helicopter systems.

“Everybody knows that these helicopters are used by the Americans, their Zionist allies… to kill Muslims, terrorizing them and displacing them in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq,” the Al-Qaeda statement said.

A source from Lockheed Martin Middle East Services told Arab News Johnson was married and lived with his wife. Senior company staff visited his wife yesterday to offer their support.

Most Western employees of the company had already sent their families home.

Word of the kidnapping came hours after another American, identified by the US Embassy as Kenneth Scroggs — not Saracuzi, as reported earlier — was gunned down here. The Al-Qaeda statement also claimed responsibility for the shooting.

more
&category=Kingdom

[daleo]

14. He developed software for target acquisition in Apache helicopters

That is what I read in another source. In that sense, he has played a pivotal role in the "war on terror", and may be indirectly responsible for thousands of deaths of both belligerents and innocents. If this truly is a war, it isn't surprising that he would be targeted by the opponents' soldiers. It looks like these 'soft targets' will be a continuing tactical goal of the anti-western side.

[seemslikeadream]

15. Attacks may be twist in Saudi feud

Killings, kidnapping appear meant to hurt ruling family


"He doesn't deserve it. It's not his fault he's over there. It's his job," he said on NBC News


It showed Johnson's passport and a Lockheed Martin business card bearing his name. The passport said that Johnson was born in New Jersey. His son Paul Johnson III said that his father moved to the kingdom in 1983 to work for Lockheed Martin.

The al-Qaida statement said that Johnson is one of four experts in Saudi Arabia working on developing Apache attack-helicopter systems.

"Everybody knows that these helicopters are used by the Americans, their Zionist allies and the apostates to kill Muslims, terrorizing them and displacing them in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq," said the statement. It said that al-Qaida would release a videotape later with Johnson's confessions and its demands.

more
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031776037666&path=!nationworld&s=1037645509161

[daleo]

16. I understand that the son is in an understandable state of anxiety

"He doesn't deserve it. It's not his fault he's over there. It's his job," he said on NBC News

But, clearly it is his "fault" he was over there. Working for Lockheed Martin is not a jail sentence, nor a military duty. He could have refused the assignment or quit. I would guess he was pulling down some pretty serious money, though. And this was a direct military contract, so he was certainly not a neutral in the situation.

If you believe in the "war on terror" he was a brave participant, who gave his life in service of that noble ideal.

If you believe the war on terror is a cover for western imperialism, he was a well paid mercenary who gambled and lost.

Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, is just a guy who worked on helicopter systems for good money, and assumed his corporation and government were doing good on balance, if he thought much about it at all.

[saigon68]

22. MERCENARIES WILL DIE

He clearly knew the odds--Played the game and lost

[seemslikeadream]

17. Americans in Saudi Arabia have become top targets

Paul Johnson, shown with his wife, Noon, in an undated family photo, is being held by kidnappers in Saudi Arabia.

"Everybody knows that these helicopters are used by the Americans, their Zionist allies and the apostates to kill Muslims, terrorizing them and displacing them in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq," said the statement.


more
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040614/topstories/73438.shtml

[seemslikeadream]

19. Al-Qaida Hits With Targeted And Lethal Attacks Inside The Kingdom

Jun 14, 2004
By Bruce Kennedy, JUS

As Al-Qaida escalates its war against America in Saudi Arabia, the Tanzeem Al-Qaida Jazeera tul Arab have kidnapped an American engineering working for Lockheed Martin and killed another American foreign national in a targeted and lethal operation.


“All Praise is to Allah alone who supports His servants and gives honor to His army and it is He who destroys the enemies alone. By the grace of Allah, the Mujahideen from Jazeerah tul Arab (Sareeyah tul Falloojah) were able to capture an American today, Saturday 24 Rabi Ath Thaani (June 12th, 2004).

The name of hostage is Paul George Marshall, born 1955, who works as an engineer for the Apache AH-64 helicopter and who is one of the foremost important engineers with respect to this within the whole Arab world.”



Saturday's attack was the third on Westerners in Saudi Arabia in a week, and came just two weeks after Al-Qaida operatives killed dozens in a shooting and hostage-taking spree in the oil city of Khobar. Tensions have risen in recent months as Al-Qaida makes clear that Americans are not safe anywhere, particularly in Saudi Arabia, as long as they continue to occupy Muslim lands. The horrific abuses that were perpetrated against Muslims at Abu Ghraib and Guatanamo Bay appears to have added more fuel to an already blazing fire.

“Everyone knows that this aircraft (AH-64) is used by the US and their Zionist friends and the apostates in killing Muslims in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq but the Mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula protect the right of the Shariah, and therefore reserve the right to act in the same way as the Americans. The Mujahideen have the legitimate right to act in same ways as the Americans did to our brothers in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. If you choose to release Muslims from captivity in Guantanamo, we will release our prisoners.”



“We will continue the Jihad until there is no more Fitna and the Deen is for Allah and Allah will be victorious in His order, although most of people do not know.”

One of Al-Qaida stated goals is to end the corrupt US-backed regime in Saudi Arabia. There appears to be a clear tactic to hit at soft targets and in particular foreign workers, which number some six million, with the specific aim of encouraging a mass exodus and collapsing the Saudi economy and ultimately the government who are unpopular amongst the majority of its citizens.

Further, with the Saudi front opening, America potentially will be jumping into another military situation in the months ahead which is surely not good news for George Bush.

more
http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=6285&list=/home.php&


-----------
The name of hostage is Paul George Marshall, born 1955, who works as an engineer for the Apache AH-64 helicopter and who is one of the foremost important engineers with respect to this within the whole Arab world.”

same guy I guess just wrong name

[seemslikeadream]

21. Militants shows tape of US hostage

June 16, 2004 - 10:30AM


An Islamic website showed videotape of a blindfolded American hostage in Saudi Arabia, and said abductors threatened to kill him within 72 hours unless Saudi authorities freed al-Qaeda prisoners.


A hooded man read a statement on the tape. As he was reading, a subtitle on the screen identified him as al-Moqrin.

The tape, which was first aired by CNN, showed Johnson sitting in a chair with his profile to the camera, a large tattoo on his left arm.


"We don't negotiate with terrorists. We don't negotiate with hostage-takers," al-Jubeir said in an interview on CNN.

Al-Jubeir denounced the hostage-takers, but said it was premature to be able to verify any of the information on the video, saying;"We can't simply go with what appears on Web sites."


The statement on the Web site says the holy warriors of the Arabian peninsula's Fallujah Brigade has "hit" the engineering team that "oversees the development of the American Apache helicopter that attacks Muslims in Palestine and Afghanistan".

It says: "The Fallujah Brigade has killed the director of this team and kidnapped one of its engineers, Paul Johnson, and if the tyrannical Saudi government wants their American master to be released, then they have to release our holy warriors that are held in Ha'ir, Ruweis and Alisha prisons within 72 hours of this statement's date."


more
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/16/1087244952019.html?oneclick=true