The Hindu : International : A revenge for prison abuse, says Al-Qaeda

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Monday, Jun 14, 2004

International

International

A revenge for prison abuse, says Al-Qaeda

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JUNE 13. Saudi Arabian authorities have launched a search for an American citizen, who has gone missing amid claims that the Al-Qaeda had kidnapped him.

The U.S. embassy spokeswoman, Carol Kalin, has confirmed the kidnapping. The abduction "may represent a new tactic'' in the militants' campaign to get foreigners to leave the kingdom, she was quoted as saying.

Another man, American Kenneth Scroggs, was shot dead on Saturday, apparently as he parked his car in the Al-Malaz suburb of Riyadh.

In a message posted on a website, the Al-Qaeda has alleged that it had earlier killed an American. A number of websites used by the Al-Qaeda carried a message by a group that called itself, "Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula," which said that the captured American was Paul Marshal Johnson. The message included photographs of various documents that were meant to establish Mr. Johnson's identity as an aeronautical engineer working for Lockheed Martin, a U.S. military manufacturer. The statement said Mr. Johnson, born in 1955, was one of four experts in Saudi Arabia working on developing Apache helicopter systems. It said the kidnapping was meant as revenge for the mistreatment of Muslims by the U.S. It threatened to treat Mr. Johnson the same way as detenus at U.S. prisons in Baghdad and Guantanamo Bay where abuses have been reported.

The website also posted a video allegedly showing the killing of a U.S. security contractor last Tuesday. An accompanying message said, "The murder of the Jewish American Robert Jacob, who worked for the Vinnell espionage firm" was being shown. Mr. Jacob was shot dead on June 8, two days after gunmen fired at a BBC team in Riyadh. The attack killed the cameraman, Simon Cumbers, and seriously wounded the correspondent, Frank Gardner.

Analysts say that the purpose of the attacks on Westerners is to derail Saudi Arabia's economy by generating an exodus of foreign workers. Western expatriates hold most of the skilled jobs in Saudi economy, especially in the oil industry.

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