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06/20/2004:

"Well Which IS It?"

Today:
Saudis Search for Slain Hostage's Body
By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer yahoo news
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - 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.

...Saudi officials had reported that Johnson's body was found Friday dumped on the northern outskirts of the capital, 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, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they have been searching in desert areas around Riyadh. They said they were also searching houses and apartments that they suspect were used by militants.

yesterday:
 
 Al Qaeda militants kill American hostage
Saturday, June 19, 2004 Posted: 3:04 AM EDT (0704 GMT)
cnn.com
(CNN) -- Saudi security forces killed a top al Qaeda leader in the kingdom shortly after the decapitated body of American hostage Paul Johnson Jr. was left in a remote area of Riyadh, security sources said.
But a statement attributed to al Qaeda denied al-Muqrin's death, saying "Saudi tyrants" trying to discourage the mujahideen were spreading "false news."
There was no way to immediately confirm the denial.

...His body was found Friday in northern Riyadh soon after an Islamist Web site posted photographs of his decapitated body.
U.S. officials said the remains were "definitely" Johnson's.
One photograph showed a severed head sitting on the back of a headless body.

'Saudi officials.' Saudii security officials'. 'Security sources'. 'American officials.' 'Officials.' 'Saudi security forces.' Well whatever the story is, it is clearly neither official nor secure.