A statement carried on an Islamist Website Saturday denied the leader of al-Qaida terror network in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, had been killed.

"Some satellite channels and news agencies have been carrying the false reports that Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, God preserve him, has been killed," said the statement.

"We want to say that the allegations made by the Saudi tyrants aim at frustrating the spirits of the holy warriors in the Arabian Peninsula," it said.

Shortly after al-Qaida militants announced on Friday the beheading of US national Paul Johnson who was kidnapped last week in Saudi Arabia, three suspected militants, including al-Muqrin, were killed by security forces in Riyadh, Al-Arabiya television reported Friday night.

Al-Muqrin claimed responsibility for the beheading of Johnson and the killing of other westerners in the kingdom.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2004)