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| Tuesday, 15 June 2004 |
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Al-Qaeda escalates anti-Western attacks in Saudi RIYADH, Monday (Reuters) Saudi Arabia searched on Sunday for an American engineer who al Qaeda said it kidnapped in a fresh escalation of a campaign to oust the kingdom's pro-U.S. monarchy and drive out Westerners. The kidnapping, the first of a Westerner in the world's leading oil exporter, raised the stakes in al Qaeda's war on a royal family it deems "ungodly and subservient to America". The U.S. embassy said it was working with Saudi authorities to find U.S. engineer, Paul Johnson, 49, who al Qaeda said it had captured on Saturday. The group also claimed Saturday's killing of U.S. national Kenneth Scroggs, who worked for Advanced Electronics Co. Witnesses said he was shot as he parked his car at his villa. The attack, the sixth on Westerners in six weeks, rattled thousands of expatriates, prompting fears of a mass exodus. On Sunday diplomats and security sources said a body, believed to be that of a Westerner, was dumped near a building in the capital, but Riyadh's police chief denied the report. Police, hunting for militants, said they sealed off two areas in Riyadh and arrested two suspects. It was not clear if the action was linked to the killing and kidnapping. The U.S. embassy issued a new warning to U.S. citizens, saying the recent attacks showed extensive planning and surveillance and urged them to vary schedules and keep a low profile to thwart militants. Meanwhile Algeria's leading Islamic militant group, which has ties to al Qaeda, has declared war on foreign people and companies in the oil-rich north African country, an Islamic website said on Sunday. The "foreigners war statement" appeared shortly after the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) claimed responsibility for killing more than a dozen soldiers in an apparent escalation of violence in the strife-torn country. |
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