[Rolo]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi TV broadcast pictures Saturday of four bloodied bodies that authorities identified as the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom and three other militants killed in a gunbattle after dumping the mutilated body of an American hostage.

The al-Qaida cell allegedly led by Abdulaziz al-Moqrin fulfilled its threat to kill engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., beheading him and showing grisly photos on the Internet on Friday. The slaying drew a chorus of condemnation from around the world, with even one of America's staunchest foes, Syria, calling it a "shameful crime."

The death of al-Moqrin, 31, would be a coup for Saudi Arabia's government, which has been beset by a wave of attacks on Westerners that has unsettled citizens and foreign residents.

The airing of the pictures appeared to be a rebuttal to a posting on an Islamist Web site Saturday denying al-Moqrin had been killed and saying the claim was "aimed at dissuading the holy warriors and crushing their spirits."

On state-run national television, a Saudi announced said four men killed by police after being cornered at a Riyadh gas station included al-Moqrin, the kingdom's most-wanted terror suspect.

A picture showed the face of an apparently dead young man, clean-shaven except for his mustache and resembling past pictures believed to be of al-Moqrin. Al-Ekhbariya, an all-news Saudi satellite channel, showed a full photograph of the same corpse, covered with blood.

A trickle of blood ran from the mouth of another of the militants pictured, and the teeth of a third appeared smashed.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday had confirmed al-Moqrin's killing, while a Saudi official said forensic tests would confirm its identity.

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