Given this particular change, I'd hold off on the hyperventilating for a minute
Saudis Search for Slain Hostage's Body
Jun 19, 8:55 PM (ET)
By SALAH NASRAWI
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 during a Friday night shootout would stop the ongoing violence against Westerners in Saudi Arabia.
Militants initially denied that al-Moqrin was killed, but late Saturday the al-Qaida cell in Saudi Arabia confirmed his death in an online statement. The group also vowed to continue its "jihad," or holy war.
Saudi officials initially said Johnson's body was found Friday dumped on the capital's northern outskirts, 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 said on condition of anonymity they were searching desert areas around Riyadh and dwellings they suspect were used by militants.
