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Riyadh intensifies searches for the American hostage
Actually, this is two stories in one: Paul Johnson’s whereabouts/health status still unknown, and Prince Naif spouting fatuousness in Le Figaro. Found this link in Google News, dunno much about the reliability of "ArabicNews.com", although I note that they don’t mention that the FBI is searching in KSA as well.
The Saudi Arabian authorities intensified its efforts yesterday to find the American hostage Paul Johnson with the beginning of the countdown of the grace period given by the al-Qaida organization to execute him which expires today ( Friday) if the authorities will not release the organization’s detainees in its jails. Since Wednesday evening, the Saudi security forces are searching for evidences leading to the kidnappers of the American citizen. Witnesses said that the security men broke into several houses in al-Sweidi quarters, the best resort for the gunmen and Daret al-Badia and al-Bader ( to the south and Southern west of al-Riyadh), al-Morouj and al-Masyaf ( to the north of al-Riyadh)." A source explained that the police men " entered several houses and inspected them and confiscated CD and computers." Press sources said the security men detained men and suspected persons in the suburbs of northern and west of al-Riyadh where it besieged two houses believed that one of them was sheltering the American hostage.

The Saudi daily al-Jazeera quoted a security source as saying that the security forces are working intensively to free the American hostage and that several security departments are taking part in searching for the American citizen who is believed to be still inside al-Sweidi quarters.

Meantime, in a statement to the French daily Le Figaro, the Saudi minister of the Interior Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz yesterday called on Washington for a greater cooperation with his country in the intelligence information to fighting terrorism and al- Qaida organization. Nayef told the paper "we need a support in the field of information especially from the stronger countries currently existed in Afghanistan and Iraq," naming not the US. He added "we are waiting for this information," noting that Saudi Arabia " does not need help inside its borders where the ministry of the Interior uses all means" to fight terrorism.
Posted by: Seafarious 2004-06-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=35801