Bush condemns beheading of US hostage

US President George W. Bush on Friday strongly condemned the beheading of US hostage Paul Johnsonin Saudi Arabia by Islamic militants, saying "America will not be intimidated."

"The murder of Paul shows the evil nature of the enemy we face," Bush said after a speech to troops at Fort Lewis, Washington. "There's no justification whatsoever for his murder. And yet they killed him in cold blood."

An Islamist website on Friday posted three photographs showing that Johnson was beheaded. A military group connected with al-Qaeda said it slaughtered Johnson after the deadline it gave to the Saudi authorities.

The group issued a 72-hour ultimatum on Tuesday, threatening tokill Johnson unless the Saudi government released al-Qaeda prisoners and all Westerners got out of the Arabian Peninsula.

Johnson, 49, were been kidnapped Saturday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. An employee of Lockheed Martin, Johnson helped maintainthe US-built Apache helicopter gunships for the Saudi military.

"They're trying to intimidate America," Bush said. "America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs."

Source: Xinhua