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| Arabia |
| Kuwaiti Condemned to Death for Shooting |
| 2003-06-04 |
| EFL A court in Kuwait sentenced a man to death Wednesday for shooting two Americans, one of them fatally, at a traffic signal near a U.S. base as the Iraq war loomed. The court sentenced three other Kuwaitis, including one who remains at large, to prison for the Jan. 21 ambush on the road leading to Camp Doha. Sami al-Mutairi, 25, was convicted of murder and attempted murder and sentenced to death. His lawyer claims his confession was coerced and plans an appeal. "We do not accept this verdict and will appeal," said the lawyer, Mohammed Minwer al-Mutairi. "This sentence aims to please public opinion and has nothing to do with the facts." "Lies, all lies!" The court sentenced Badi Cruz al-Ajami and Khalifa Hilal Hadi Al-Dihani three years in prison each for providing Al-Mutairi with the gun and bullets for the attack. Abdullah al-Oteibi, who is still at large, was sentenced in absentia to eight years for training the defendant in the use of weapons. A fourth defendant, also tried in absentia, was found innocent. The shooting was one of a string of attacks on Americans as U.S. troops and equipment poured into Kuwait in preparation for the invasion of Iraq. Prosecutors said Al-Mutairi carefully planned the attack, waiting behind a hedge for an hour before opening fire on the men as their car stopped at a traffic light. In his court testimony last month, Al-Mutairi said he was forced to confess to the shootings. In a police tape played in court on April 16, Al-Mutairi said: "I'm convinced of what I did ... I don't regret it." Asked if he would do the same again if he were released, he replied: "Certainly." Al-Mutairi testified that police had prepared the confession and forced him to read it in front of a video camera. If this was Saudi, I might be inclined to believe him. Al-Mutairi, who worked as a researcher at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, fled to Saudi Arabia after the killing. He was arrested there and extradited to Kuwait. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 Um, what IS the current method of pest control in Kuwait these days, anyway ... same as the Soddies? or something closer to the current century? |
| Posted by: Luigi 2003-06-04 16:50:29 |
| #1 The part about aiming "to please public opinion" is interesting. Apparently this lawyer doesn't think Kuwaitis in general are as hostile to Americans as we are sometimes told they are. |
| Posted by: Dr. Weevil 2003-06-04 09:38:53 |