June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Johnson Jr., a Lockheed Martin Corp. engineer abducted in Saudi Arabia, was beheaded by Islamist militants, and images of his body were posted on the Internet in the second such slaying of an American in the Middle East in as many months.

The body of Johnson, 49, was found in a remote area north of the Saudi capital Riyadh, and security forces are battling militants who may be connected to his murder, Saudi foreign policy adviser Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in Washington.

The suspected al-Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia, and the alleged ringleader of Johnson's kidnapping, identified as Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin, was killed, Cable News Network cited the Arabic news channel al-Arabiya as reporting early Saturday in the region.

Johnson, based in Orlando, Florida, was working in Saudi Arabia on Apache AH-64 helicopters for Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed. The Apache is the U.S. Army's top attack helicopter, and a message attributed to his captors on an Islamist Web site alluded to the craft's use in Iraq.

``Let him (Johnson) taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles,'' the statement said, according to the Associated Press.

Terrorists in Saudi Arabia suspected of ties to al-Qaeda have stepped up attacks on foreigners in the desert country, the world's largest oil exporter, under an ideology that seeks to expunge Western influence from the spiritual home of Islam. Al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is a native of Saudi Arabia, three- quarters of the Sept. 11 hijackers came from the country and Saudis are jailed at the U.S. military's anti-terrorism prison camp in Cuba.

`Against Decency'

Al-Jubeir, who advises Saudi leader Crown Prince Abdullah, called the murder ``an attack against decency'' and expressed regrets to Johnson's family that a security sweep involving about 15,000 personnel had failed to locate the engineer before his murder.

While al-Jubeir said the kingdom would ``prevail,'' he warned that ``we are in for a difficult time'' with al-Qaeda.

Crude oil futures rose after news of Johnson's slaying, amid concerns that Western oil workers will leave Saudi Arabia. Crude oil for July delivery rose 29 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $38.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since June 3 when OPEC raised production quotas.

An attack in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, last month led to the deaths of 22 people, and an American working for a unit of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. was shot dead in Riyadh 10 days ago. The U.S. and U.K. have advised their nationals, close to 80,000 people, to leave Saudi Arabia.

Bush, Powell

President George W. Bush said there was ``no justification whatsoever'' for Johnson's murder, and Secretary of State Colin Powell called it ``barbarism.''

Lockheed Martin's Web site carried a large message saying, ``Our thoughts and prayers'' are with Johnson and his family.

``Paul was a valued and respected employee, who bravely carried out his duties, and the news of his loss is a shock to everyone in the Lockheed Martin family,'' the company said in a statement.

Johnson's Thai wife, Thanom Johnson, pleaded for his release earlier today on the Arabic television channel al-Arabiya. ``He didn't do anything wrong,'' she said, and broke down in tears. Other family members had gone on television in the U.S. to appeal to his captors to end the ordeal.

Earlier this week a video was released showing Johnson blindfolded and came with demands from his kidnappers that any suspected al-Qaeda loyalists be released from imprisonment in Saudi Arabia within 72 hours. The message was signed in the name of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Images

One of the images posted to the Web today showed a severed head on top of a man's body, another with a knife leaning against it. The execution itself was not depicted. Nicholas Berg, a Pennsylvania man who had gone to Iraq to look for reconstruction work, was beheaded in a video distributed on the Internet last month.

The U.S. alleges suspected al-Qaeda affiliate Abu Musab al- Zarqawi carried out the Berg killing.

Powell said the U.S. was still waiting on final confirmation of the murder from the Saudi government.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia will ``redouble our efforts to go after terrorists wherever they are, wherever they're trying to hide, and to go after those who support this kind of terrorist activity,'' Powell said in Washington.

The U.S. has praised Saudi Arabia's efforts to combat terrorism since the May 2003 attacks on housing compounds for foreigners in Riyadh, which killed dozens of people. The Saudis are also working to stop funding of terrorist groups by Saudi citizens, the U.S. said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Johnson's slaying in a statement as an ``act of senseless violence, and (we) repudiate all those who believe such murderous behavior benefits the faith of Islam or the Muslim people.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Zeranski in New York at tzeranski@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 18, 2004 18:05 EDT