RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi security forces killed the kingdom’s top al Qaeda leader Abdulaziz al-Muqrin and two other militants Friday shortly after the group beheaded the U.S. engineer they were holding, a senior security source said.
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Muqrin claimed responsibility for the beheading of American Paul Johnson and the killing of other Westerners in the kingdom, which has battled Osama bin Laden’s group for over a year.
Shame they were too late. Will this be enough to allay criticisms that the kingdom isn’t doing enough to counteract terrorist operations in its borders? Aside from a few crackpots blaming the US (no kidding, they’ll find an angle in it somewhere) most of the world seems pretty united in seeing the Saudi authorities as weak on terrorism in light of their seeming powerlessness to prevent Paul Johnson’s beheading. For the Saud family, already wrestling with matters of electoral reform at home this is a small break in the clouds that couldn’t have come at a better time.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at June 18, 2004 11:50 PM | TrackBack