Saudi Arabia asks militants to repent or embrace death

al-Qaeda's leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, was shot dead by Saudi forces Friday along with three other prominent militants hours after they beheaded American hostage Paul Johnson, whose body has still not been found.

"We tell this deviant group and others that if they do not return to the right path, they will meet the same fate or worse," Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah said late Saturday.

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"Security forces will deal with them, God willing, and with every aggressor inside or abroad," he added.

State television showed the bloodied corpses of the four militants, saying they had been behind a wave of violence against foreigners in the Gulf state, a key US ally and the world's biggest oil exporter.

"The government is strong and will eradicate the enemy and cleanse the country of them," Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef said. "God willing, we will be victorious."

al-Qaeda confirmed the killings of Muqrin and three others in an Internet statement Saturday but voiced defiance.

"The Mujahideen are continuing the jihad (holy struggle) that they have pledged to God and the killing of their brothers will not weaken their resolve but only increase their determination and commitment," it said.

al-Qaeda, led by the fugitive Osama bin Laden who is blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, has vowed to expel "infidels" from the birthplace of Islam. Muqrin had warned that 2004 would be "bloody."