In Reply to: Something Serious posted by Mr. Don on June 18, 2004 at 21:40:56:
The news of Paul Johnson's execution was sad. I had hoped for a better outcome. And I'm not convinced we're getting the whole story. Doesn't it seem a little fishy that the Saudis killed the al Qaeda ringleader within hours of Johnson's murder? Why didn't they catch this known criminal before Johnson's murder? Saudi officials know exactly who he is and where to find him--they let him out of a Saudi prison not that long ago. We're talking about a country where everyone is either your next of kin or next-door neighbor.
There was an article in the local paper about a devout Muslim friend of Johnson having written an open letter to the kidnappers that was published in the Saudi newspapers earlier this week. This person--who signed his name "Friend of Allah" said he had extended an his sacred oath of hospitality to Johnson. According to the Koran and First Testament traditions of hospitality to the stranger, it is a grave sin against God to injure the foreigner who is the guest in the home of a believer. This "Friend of Allah" swore he would curse Johnson's murderers in daily prayers for as long as it took to bring judgement down on their heads.
There is Moslem outrage about this sort of thing in Egypt. The Egyptians simply don't put up with it, and they certainly don't let known terrorist insurgents out of prison with a slap on the wrist as the Saudis did in this case. There has not been anything like this happen in Egypt since the Japanese and German tourists were murdered by terrorist insurgents in the late 90s. The ordinary people won't tolerate it, because too much of the Egyptian economy depends on tourism.
I truly despise the Saudis. I can't forget that it was them (not the Iraqis) who staffed the flight crews on 9/11. You can get a pretty good handle on the reactions from people in the different Moslem countries if you watch Mosaic on Worldlink TV.