Saudi posts letter to protect kidnapped American

By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press writer Friday, June 18, 2004


pq If Johnson is harmed, "I will never forgive you. I will curse you in all my
prayers." POSTING BY MUSLIM FRIEND OF AMERICAN

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- U.S. and Saudi officials were working together to try
to save an American hostage whose captors have said they would kill him today
unless Saudi authorities release al-Qaida prisoners.

Meanwhile, a Saudi who identified himself as a friend and colleague of Paul M.
Johnson posted a message on Islamic militant Web sites, saying he had bestowed
his protection as a Muslim on Johnson and that killing him would break Islamic
law.

If Johnson is harmed, "I will never forgive you. I will curse you in all my
prayers," said the letter's writer, who used the pseudonym Saad al-Mu'men, or
"Saad The Believer."

He pointed to a saying by Islam's Prophet Muhammad: "If they were granted
(Muslim) protection, then killing or taking their money or harming them is
forbidden."

Johnson's kidnappers said in a video and a written statement on a Web site
Tuesday that Saudi authorities would have 72 hours to respond to their demands
or Johnson would be killed.

The 72 hours apparently ends sometime today; the kidnappers did not specify
what time the countdown began or when it ends. Saudi newspapers on Thursday
quoted unnamed government sources as saying the kingdom would not give in to
terrorists.

Johnson, 49, was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling itself al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula. The organization is believed to be headed by Abdulaziz Issa
Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, the top al-Qaida figure in Saudi Arabia.

In Johnson's home state of New Jersey, his son, Paul Johnson III, made a quiet
plea Thursday for his father's safe return, telling the Associated Press: "I
want my father home."

A candlelight vigil for the elder Johnson was planned for 7 p.m. Thursday
behind a firehouse in Eaglewood Township, N.J., a rural community about 20
miles north of Atlantic City.

A U.S. Embassy official in the Saudi capital said Thursday that contacts with
Saudi authorities were ongoing but would not comment further on the hunt for
Johnson.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S.
investigators were "on the ground in Saudi Arabia" and have been "in close
touch with their Saudi counterparts on this matter."

Saudi posts letter to protect kidnapped American

By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press writer Friday, June 18, 2004


pq If Johnson is harmed, "I will never forgive you. I will curse you in all my
prayers." POSTING BY MUSLIM FRIEND OF AMERICAN

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- U.S. and Saudi officials were working together to try
to save an American hostage whose captors have said they would kill him today
unless Saudi authorities release al-Qaida prisoners.

Meanwhile, a Saudi who identified himself as a friend and colleague of Paul M.
Johnson posted a message on Islamic militant Web sites, saying he had bestowed
his protection as a Muslim on Johnson and that killing him would break Islamic
law.

If Johnson is harmed, "I will never forgive you. I will curse you in all my
prayers," said the letter's writer, who used the pseudonym Saad al-Mu'men, or
"Saad The Believer."

He pointed to a saying by Islam's Prophet Muhammad: "If they were granted
(Muslim) protection, then killing or taking their money or harming them is
forbidden."

Johnson's kidnappers said in a video and a written statement on a Web site
Tuesday that Saudi authorities would have 72 hours to respond to their demands
or Johnson would be killed.

The 72 hours apparently ends sometime today; the kidnappers did not specify
what time the countdown began or when it ends. Saudi newspapers on Thursday
quoted unnamed government sources as saying the kingdom would not give in to
terrorists.

Johnson, 49, was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling itself al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula. The organization is believed to be headed by Abdulaziz Issa
Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, the top al-Qaida figure in Saudi Arabia.

In Johnson's home state of New Jersey, his son, Paul Johnson III, made a quiet
plea Thursday for his father's safe return, telling the Associated Press: "I
want my father home."

A candlelight vigil for the elder Johnson was planned for 7 p.m. Thursday
behind a firehouse in Eaglewood Township, N.J., a rural community about 20
miles north of Atlantic City.

A U.S. Embassy official in the Saudi capital said Thursday that contacts with
Saudi authorities were ongoing but would not comment further on the hunt for
Johnson.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S.
investigators were "on the ground in Saudi Arabia" and have been "in close
touch with their Saudi counterparts on this matter."