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