Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr.
| Paul Marshall Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 8, 1955 New Jersey |
| Died | c. June 18, 2004 (aged 49) Saudi Arabia |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Known for | decapitated by Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia |
Paul Marshall Johnson Jr. (May 8, 1955 – c. June 18, 2004) was an American helicopter engineer who lived in Saudi Arabia. He was a native of both Stafford Township and Eagleswood Township, New Jersey. In 2004, he was taken hostage by militants and his murder was recorded on video tape.
Johnson, who worked for Lockheed Martin on upgrading Saudi AH-64A Apache attack helicopters, was stopped at a fake police checkpoint near Riyadh June 12, 2004 and then abducted. His kidnappers called themselves Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group, headed by Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin, posted a video of a blindfolded Johnson on an Islamist website on June 15, 2004 and threatened to kill him unless all al-Qaeda prisoners were released from Saudi jails within 72 hours.
Immediately after the video was released, American and Saudi Arabian authorities began to deal with the hostage situation. Both the United States and Saudi Arabia asserted that they would not comply with the kidnappers' demands. Those demands included, but were not limited to, releasing all militants being held in Saudi custody. The video was released on the same day that Crown Prince Abdullah promised to step up security and investigations against militant Islamic groups in Saudi Arabia.
One of Johnson's Saudi colleagues, Abdullah Al-Momin, published a petition message to the kidnappers through Al-Arabia TV. He asked them in the name of Islam to free Johnson as he has nothing to do with the American military, "if they are really Muslims they should release him" Abdullah said.
Johnson's abduction came during increased violence against foreigners in Saudi Arabia. The previous week, BBC journalists Frank Gardner and Simon Cumbers had been shot, and two other Americans had also been shot in Riyadh.
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Wikipedia