Paul Johnson beheaded in Saudi Arabia

[GAsux]

I have to admit that I am somewhat skeptical of the Saudis. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through "Ghost Wars" by Steve Coll which is a brilliant analysis of the CIA's work in Afghanistan since the laste 70s. It also includes a lot of info about Pakistan and the role of the Saudis in the affair.

Based partly upon that, and partly upon what we've seen in the last few years, I find it slightly odd that mysteriously within hours of the murder, Saudi security forces were somehow able to track down the man who claimed responsibility and kill him in a shoot out.

The timing is suspicious. Further, the reports yesterday indicated that Saudi security had received a tip from someone witnessing Johnson's body being dumped which led them to the Al Qaeda members, a chase ensued, and ultimately ended in a Riyhad neighborhood.

Put at the press conference today the story was that Saudi security agents were out combing the streets for days and just happened to come across these folks and trapped them on a street in a neighborhood when the shoot out occurred.

I understand the nature of early news reports, but neverthless there is some doubt in my mind as to how the whole thing went down. It just seems a little suspicious to me.