Yemen executes killer of U.S. physicians [Archives:2006/925/Front Page]
March 2 2006
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SANA'A, Feb. 28 ) The Ibb Appeals Court last Monday executed by firing squad Abdul-Razzak Kamil who killed three U.S. physicians in the southern province of Ibb in 2002.
Kamil was shot at the central prison in Ibb province, some 190 kilometers south of Sana'a, in the presence of prison, police and judicial officials, the official Saba news agency reported.
There was no confirmation from the U.S. embassy in Sana'a whether an embassy representative attended the execution.
Kamil, 35, was sentenced to death in May 2003 after he was convicted of killing the three Americans Dec. 30, 2002. He reportedly entered the hospital and gunned down two physicians and an administrator.
Obstetrician Martha Myers, 57, hospital director William Koehn, 60, and administrator Kathleen Gariety, 43, were killed and a fourth staff member was wounded in the attack.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who also is president of the Supreme Judicial Council, approved the death sentence Feb. 26, according to the Saba News Agency
During the trial, Kamil admitted to the crime, telling the court he was defending Islam when he killed the three doctors. He said he killed them because they worked at a missionary hospital in the city of Jibla to preach Christianity among the local population.
After the killing, President Saleh sent a message of condolence to U.S. President George W. Bush expressing shock and outrage at the attack on people who were working to help Yemenis.
Yemeni officials have said that Kamil was a member of a militant group that had planned to assassinate secular politicians and foreign missionaries working in Yemen.
They said the group was led by radical preacher Ali Ahmad Jarallah who was executed last November after a court convicted him of murdering a senior opposition politician Dec. 29, 2002, just one day before Kamil killed the three Americans. However, according to government officials, the group believes in jihadist principles are not directly involved in Al-Qaeda.
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