Set US hostage free, letter urges militants
Signed 'Believer,' letter on websites used by Al Qaeda
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A letter posted on websites used by Al Qaeda supporters and signed by ''The Believer" urges militants to spare American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., saying killing him would violate Islamic law. The letter warned that if Johnson is harmed, ''I will curse you in all my prayers."
Johnson's captors are believed linked to Osama bin Laden's terror network and have said they would kill him unless Saudi authorities free Al Qaeda prisoners by today.
The letter, signed by Saad al-Mu'men, a pseudonym meaning ''Saad The Believer," was posted late Wednesday on websites where Al Qaeda supporters and other militants leave messages, and aired on a Saudi-owned television network, Al-Arabiya. The letter identified the writer as a Saudi friend of Johnson's and said he had bestowed his protection as a Muslim on the American hostage.
If Johnson is harmed, it read, ''I will never forgive you. I will curse you in all my prayers." It pointed to a saying by Islam's Prophet Mohammed: ''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 website Tuesday that Saudi authorities would have 72 hours to respond to their demands or Johnson would be killed.
The 72 hours ends today; the kidnappers did not specify what time the countdown began or when it ends. Saudi newspapers yesterday quoted unidentified government officials as saying the kingdom would not give in to the demands of terrorists.
A US Embassy official in the Saudi capital said yesterday that contacts with Saudi authorities were ongoing, but he would not comment further about the hunt for Johnson.
Johnson, 49, who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling itself Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The organization is believed to be headed by Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, the top Al Qaeda figure in Saudi Arabia.
In Johnson's home state of New Jersey, his son, Paul Johnson III, made a plea yesterday for his father's safe return. ''I want my father home," he said.
In an interview on NBC's ''Today" show, Johnson said he had received no indication that authorities have made progress in the search for his father.
Security has been increased in and around Riyadh as the hunt for Johnson continues.
In the letter, Mu'men said Johnson, who works for Lockheed Martin on targeting and night vision systems for
''He was interested in reading Koran translations . . . I swear to God that once he said to me in public, in a popular restaurant in Riyadh: 'I hate my country's politics. I am interested in Islam. If I convert, I will go and live with my wife in East Asia,' " Mu'men wrote. Johnson's wife is Thai.
Mu'men said he was Johnson's colleague, but he gave no details about his job. He said he often invited Johnson for dinner and gave the American books on Islam as presents.
The letter was posted on websites known for Islamic extremist writings and was subsequently posted on the website of the Saudi-owned satellite television channel Al-Arabiya, www.alarabiya.net.
Al-Arabiya reported that Mu'men said in an interview that he chose Islamic websites known for airing radical views, because he was sure the kidnappers would monitor them.
Al-Arabiya said that Mu'men had contacted the station but agreed to be identified only by the pseudonym. The station said it had confirmed the man it interviewed was the author of the letter, but it did not say how.
