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| Arabia |
| Prosecutors seek 'maximum' for killing of Pouliot |
| 2003-05-12 |
| A chief prosecutor called on a Kuwaiti court to issue the "maximum penalty" against a Kuwaiti on trial for killing an American civilian early this year. "We call on you, in the name of society, to return safety and security to this society by hitting hard against everyone who considers threatening it," Hussein Al-Huraiti said in his closing statement. He urged the court to hand down the "maximum penalty", without specifying the sentence terms, against 25-year-old Sami Al-Mutairi when it issues its verdict on June 4. Murder is punishable by death in Kuwait. Mutairi is accused of carrying out a highway ambush in January that killed Michael Rene Pouliot and seriously wounded David Caraway, both contractors for the US army. Kuwaitis Badi Cruz Al-Ajmi and Khalifa Hilal Al-Dihani are also on trial for selling Mutairi the Kalashnikov assault rifle and ammunition used in the attack. The shooting was the second fatal attack against Americans in the country since last October and the first to target civilians. "Because of this crime, confidence in the country's security and stability was shaken," Huraiti said. He claimed Mutairi had planned the crime two months before carrying it out, watching the area and singling out his prey as they stopped at an intersection on their way back from the camp. Mutairi shot the two men and then went to a mosque to pray before he headed for his office where he heard on satellite television that his attack was a success, the lawyer added. After stashing the weapon and ammunition at his work place, he fled to Saudi Arabia where Saudi border guards arrested him two days after the attack, Huraiti said. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |