Search for Johnson's body continues in desert areas

Saudi Arabia is still dangerous for Westerners, one official said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi security agents searched homes in the capital and surrounding deserts Saturday for the body of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., while Saudi officials hailed as a victory their slaying of his executioner, the top Al-Qaida figure in the kingdom.
But the U.S. ambassador said he doubted the death of Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, who officials said was gunned down in a firefight the night before, would stop the violence against Westerners in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi officials had reported that Johnson's body was found Friday dumped on the northern outskirts of the capital, hours after his captors killed and decapitated him and posted Web photos of his severed head.
But officials backtracked Saturday. "We haven't found the body yet," said Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington. "We think we know the area where it is."
Saudi security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they have been searching in desert areas around Riyadh. They said they were also searching houses and apartments that they suspect were used by militants.
Executioner killed
Al-Moqrin, who was the most wanted man in Saudi Arabia and was believed to have been behind the kidnapping, was killed along with three other militants in a gunbattle hours after Johnson's death was reported.
The other slain militants included his suspected deputy, Faisal al-Dukheil, "who is believed to be the No. 2 Al-Qaida person in Saudi Arabia," al-Jubeir said.
Al-Moqrin is believed to have had a leading role in the stepped-up campaign of militant violence in the kingdom, which in recent months has seen bombings and gun attacks on foreigners.
"This was a major blow to Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia," al-Jubeir said. But he acknowledged that there are likely other Al-Qaida cells in the kingdom seeking to topple the royal family for its close ties to the United States.
U.S. Ambassador James C. Oberwetter praised Saudi security forces for their work, including the killing of al-Moqrin. But he said the situation in the kingdom remained dangerous for Westerners.
"It will be some time before we achieve a comfort level that the situation returns to normal," Oberwetter said at a press conference in Riyadh.
"A great deal was accomplished last evening, but we also believe that much more remains to be done," he said.
"The Saudis are doing an excellent job working on their most wanted list and taking people of that list," he said. "But not everyone has been removed from the list. Maybe there are more."
Confirmation
The Al-Qaida cell in Saudi Arabia confirmed al-Moqrin's death Saturday. The cell also vowed to continue its holy war.
In a statement posted on an Islamic Web site, the group said al-Moqrin and three other group members were killed "when the soldiers of the tyrants [the Saudi government] set up a trap for them ... Suddenly they began shooting gunfire at the mujahedeen using different kinds of weapons, leading to their killing."
The Al-Qaida statement praised al-Moqrin, 31, who fought in Afghanistan, for continuing his fight even when he was being hunted by officials and said he had trained "sincere men of mujahedeen who will carry on his mission and replace him in his jihad."
"He continued jihad, under the ear and the eyes of the tyrants, fighting on the front lines, protecting his brothers with his chest and his hand," it said.
The four were killed in an hours-long gunbattle after Saudi security forces intercepted their car in Riyadh's al-Malaz neighborhood at one of the mobile, "surprise" roadblocks they have been setting up in the capital, al-Jubeir said.
"The terrorists tried to shoot their way out," he said.
One security officer was killed and two were wounded in the gunbattle, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Other arrests
The Interior Ministry said 12 suspected militants were also arrested in a sweep of the capital during the night.
The Interior Ministry said authorities had confiscated three cars used by al-Moqrin's cell, including one believed to have been used in the June 6 killing of Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers.
Also confiscated were forged identity papers, $38,000 and a weapons cache, including three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades and automatic rifles, the statement said.
The Saudi Press Agency identified the other killed militants as Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry and Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Dreiham.
Al-Dikheel may have appeared in video footage of Johnson's killing, the SPA report said.
Al-Muteiry was among the militants who was involved in the May 29 shooting and hostage-taking attack on the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people, it said. Al-Dreiham was linked to the Nov. 8, 2003, suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17, the statement added.
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