Contract Worker Be-headed..

[Guest]

Just read about the contractor with the Thai wife got beheaded....what a shame. Looked like just another sanuk-loving bloke.

When/How will this end?

[Mentors]

Yes, a sad tragedy, the terrorist's must be destroyed soon as possible.

The whole world and every citizen is in dangerous.

[spirit_of_town_hall]

I was thinking the same, just some person making a living, taken off the street and be-headed by barbarians, pursuing their sickening hate filled religion.

 

STH

[Guest]

Yes, but of course if our side tries to do anything about it, then we are just being oppressors of the poor and adding more fuel to the fire. Well, balls to that! Hopefully this will make people wake up to the fact that we are at war, although I seriously doubt that anything can wake them up. For some reason, evolution has reduced the strength of the human spine in recent decades.

[Guest]

Good point...just a reminder that going after the allmighty pound, shilling, dollar or baht may land you in a place that you may not want to be.

Does anyone have an article regarding his thai wife? Had heard she made a public plea...have a picture of that?

[greedisgood]

Talked to a few guys today, in Washington Sq area, said he was a stand up felow.

 

From AFP:

 

Sat Jun 19, 5:05 AM ET

 

 

NONG KUNG, Thailand (AFP) - A Thai village was plunged into mourning as shocked relatives and friends of kidnapped American Paul Johnson awoke to news of his execution in Saudi Arabia at the hands of Al-Qaeda militants.

 

 

AFP/file Photo

 

 

 

This tiny tight-knit community was struggling to cope with the news emanating from the Middle East, where the American husband of one of their own was brutally murdered and pictures of his beheading were posted on the Internet.

 

 

"A friend rang us from Bangkok just after midnight and told us the news and all of us have been up all night just shocked and filled with disbelief," said Saengduan Mainwaring, the cousin of Thanom, Johnson's Thai wife of 10 years.

 

 

"A relative in Bangkok spoke with Thanom this morning but (Thanom) just could not speak -- she was so emotional and heartbroken," Saengduan said, adding that Thanom was expected to travel to the US before returning to Thailand in about a fortnight.

 

 

Shaken and holding back tears, Saengduan walked along the dirt roads of Thanom's home village of a few hundred people to talk with friends and relatives about the tragedy.

 

 

Standing outside the Johnson's simple two-story timber house built in local style, next-door neighbour Cula Chaiwicha shook her head saying: "My mother was crying when she heard the news. It is so shocking."

 

 

"We still haven't seen the pictures, but I can't believe this is how he died, the whole village is sad," she said, referring to gruesome images of the decapitated 49-year-old engineer shown on an Islamist website which have triggered worldwide revulsion and condemnation.

 

 

Johnson's Thai relatives said they did not know what to do next, as they had been living in the hope he would return alive.

 

 

The devastating news broke in the village only hours after a vigil had been held outside the Johnson home during which two men uttered Buddhist chants as about 20 friends and relatives lit small orange candles and prayed the American's life would be spared.

 

 

"We still find it too hard to believe and we can't stop thinking about Paul and Thanom," the wife's aunt, Thongsit Carison, said during the vigil.

 

 

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, where those who knew Johnson have also held a week-long vigil and tied yellow ribbons around some of the bars where the American liked to unwind, his friends were expected to gather for a final memorial.

 

 

The Johnsons lived in Riyadh, but maintained a home in Nong Kung which neighbours said they returned to about three times a year.

 

 

Johnson, who worked for US defense contractor Lockheed Martin, was due to retire in one month after which he was expected to return with his wife to live in Thailand. A handful of other Westerners live with their wives in the same village.

 

 

Johnson's body was found Friday in a remote area of Riyadh, Adel al-Jubeir, diplomatic adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abdul Aziz, said in Washington.

 

 

Since Johnson's abduction last Saturday -- the same day another US national was killed in the Saudi capital -- Washington and Riyadh had steadfastly insisted they would strike no deal with the hostage-takers.

 

 

Saudi officials confirmed that Johnson had been decapitated as a 72-hour deadline for his execution ran out, despite frantic efforts to find him by Saudi forces.

 

 

Shortly after news broke of Johnson's death, Saudi security forces reported killing four militants, including presumed Al-Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, whose group they said beheaded Johnson.

 

 

 

 

 

Johnson's murder triggered a wave of anger and condemnation in the United States and around the world and a vow from President George W. Bush (news - web sites) to avenge his death.

[..]

greedisgood said:

Talked to a few guys today, in Washington Sq area, said he was a stand up felow.

 

I'll echo that sentiment. I did not know him well, but shared a few pops with him in the past. He was a good guy. A sad day indeed.

[sanukdee]

AL-QAEDA ABDUCTION: Thai hearts go out to US kidnap victim

 

 

 

Published on Jun 15, 2004

 

 

 

Khon Kaen wife, friends pray for safe return of Bangkok regular Paul Johnson

 

Friends of Paul Johnson, the American helicopter engineer abducted in the Saudi capital Riyadh on the weekend, aired grim fears at small gatherings in Bangkok last night about his possible fate.

 

Johnson, 49, has a Thai wife who has lived in Riyadh with him for several years. Thailand has been his second home for the best part of a decade, colleagues said yesterday.

 

His wife "Nom", from Khon Kaen, aged about 30, was yesterday being comforted by friends and work associates at their home in Riyadh.

 

Friends who spoke to her from Bangkok preferred not to reveal her full name, but said she was managing, despite grave concern about her husband's chances of avoiding a brutal death at the hands of Islamic terrorists.

 

There were reports early yesterday that the body of a Westerner had been found, raising speculation that Johnson was the latest foreigner to be killed there. However Saudi police later denied this.

 

An expert on Apache helicopters, originally from New Jersey, Johnson works for US defence contractor Lockheed Martin. He was seized from his car on Saturday. All the vehicle's windows were smashed. Saudi press reports said it was booby-trapped and later caught fire.

 

On Sunday, Johnson's ID papers and photographs were posted on an Islamic website, with a statement from militants who also claimed responsibility for gunning down Kenneth Scroggs, another American, in the Saudi capital the day before.

 

The statement, purportedly from al-Qaeda, threatened to treat the abducted American as US troops treated Iraqi prisoners - a reference to abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

 

It said Johnson was one of four experts in Saudi Arabia working on developing Apache attack helicopter systems.

 

"Everybody knows that these helicopters are used by the Americans, their Zionist allies and the apostates to kill Muslims, terrorising them and displacing them in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq," said the statement. It said al-Qaeda would release a videotape later with Johnson's confession and its demands.

 

Johnson's car was found near Imam University, about 20 kilometres from the neighbourhood where Scroggs was shot.

 

Lockheed Martin issued a statement confirming that Johnson was missing. The US embassy in Riyadh said it was working with Saudi officials to find the kidnapped American. In Bangkok, American Howard Ogden, who runs the B52 bar on Sukhumvit Rd, said Johnson has been visiting Thailand about three times a year for extended breaks.

 

"My wife is related to his wife, who is a Thai national. Needless to say she is shattered, as are many of his friends here in Thailand.

 

"Paul has been a Bangkok regular for over 10 years. His stomping grounds include Sukhumvit Soi 4 up to Soi Cowboy. Those who know Paul will agree that he has a heart as big as Texas and his infamous bell-ringing antics could be damaging to say the least.

 

"He loved this place [Thailand]. And he invested a lot of money here and up in Khon Kaen, where his wife is from. He never caused any problems and was a real character. We're all just hoping for the best," Ogden said.

 

Friends were gathered last night at Jools bar in Sukhumvit Soi 4 and other nearby watering holes that the American frequented to get the latest news on their friend. Others were quietly praying that somehow he might be freed, rescued, or at least not suffer the indignity of a grisly death that will be filmed and posted on the Net for millions to see.

 

Johnson has no children by his Thai wife, but two from a first marriage in the US.

 

His son, Paul Johnson III, spoke yesterday to NBC News in the US, asking the kidnappers to let his father go. "He doesn't deserve it. It's not his fault he's over there. It's his job," he said.

 

He said his father had been nervous about being in Saudi Arabia. "My dad's probably praying, wondering how he got himself into this and how he can get himself out," he said.

 

American authorities said the latest attacks appear to follow extensive surveillance of the victims.

 

Three Westerners have been killed in Riyadh in a week. Scroggs was shot in the back as he parked in the garage at his home on Saturday. Last Tuesday, American Robert Jacobs was also killed in his garage. An alleged video of his death was posted on a website over the weekend.

 

Less than two minutes long, it does not show any faces. It begins with men running in a garage and a voice yelling in English, "No, no, please!" A shot is fired, and the body of what appears to be a Western man falls to the ground. Two gunmen fire at least 10 more shots at the fallen man, then one kneels by his head and motions as if he is beheading him.

 

The website statement about Scroggs and Johnson was signed by "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula", the same group that claimed responsibility for a May 29-30 shooting spree and hostage-taking in the eastern Saudi oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

 

The US suspects the terrorists have unleashed a violent drive to sabotage the vital Saudi oil sector and bring down the royal family.

 

Speaking on ABC TV, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "The killing of foreigners . . . is a direct attack against the Saudi regime. It's trying to disrupt normal commerce, disrupt the oil sector."

 

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on a foreign work force. An estimated 8.8 million foreigners work among 17 million Saudis in the kingdom, some in the oil sector, banking and other high-level businesses, but the majority in service-industry jobs such as maids, bell boys or taxi drivers.

 

The US embassy had already advised Americans to leave the kingdom, and the British embassy on Sunday said it was authorising the voluntary departure of non-essential staff and their families.

 

Jim Pollard