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The self-described al Qaeda leader who threatened
to kill an American hostage in Saudi Arabia allegedly wrote an
article detailing why it's important to kill hostages if the
deadline is delayed.
 The
speaker on the video threatening to kill American Paul Johnson if
their demands aren't met identified himself as Abdulaziz al-Moqrin,
who is believed to lead al Qaeda operations in Saudi Arabia.
"Start to kill the hostages if there is
any procrastination, so that the enemy knows that we are serious
about what we say, which would give the group credibility," advised
the author of the chilling article, published on the Internet, that
detailed the rules of hostage-taking. It was allegedly written two
months ago by Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, who is believed to lead al Qaeda
operations in Saudi Arabia and is well known to Saudi officials as a
ruthless man.
But Saudi officials say there have been no negotiations with him or
the other captors of Paul Johnson, a Lockheed-Martin radar engineer
who has lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years, and that the outlook is
grim.
In a video and statement posted Tuesday on the Internet, Johnson's
captors threatened to kill him if al Qaeda prisoners in Saudi Arabia
were not released within 72 hours. The speaker on the video
identified himself as al-Moqrin. The 72 hours ends sometime today,
but the kidnappers did not specify what time the countdown began or
when it ends. Johnson was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling
itself "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."
Among the purposes of hostage-taking, the author of the article
wrote, is to "force the government or the enemy to submit to some
demands," and "to embarrass the government politically in front of
the country of those who were kidnapped."
The article also advised that governments usually don't submit to
kidnappers' demands, and if they do submit to one of the demands,
"it is probably a trick." It is forbidden to lengthen the
hostage-taking time, "because the ability of the team is then
weakened and the tension increases, while the security efforts
increase."
Senior Saudi official Nail Al-Jubier said little can be done to save
Johnson other than a last-minute break.
"These criminals know what they're doing. There will be no
negotiations with them," Al-Jubier said.
"It is tragic when any person dies, especially if that person is in
your country helping your country and your people develop," he said.
Some 15,000 police and security officers are searching for Johnson
but hopes that he can be saved are fading fast. They have conducted
house-to-house searches, manned checkpoints and combed entire
neighborhoods — but so far to no avail.
"There is really nothing more we can do," said Al-Jubier. "We're
looking for them. We are going after them, they are going after us."
Al-Jubier said his government had done all it could but that no
government can guarantee the safety of everyone.
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