Posted on 12/30/2002 9:51:49 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
NewsMax.com Wires and NewsMax.com
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002
WASHINGTON – U.S. consular officials have joined Yemeni authorities interrogating the man who admitted killing three American missionaries and wounding another, the State Department said Monday. Abed Abdul-Razzaq al-Kamil, 32, shot the four representatives of Southern Baptist International Mission Board to "cleanse his religion and get closer to Allah," the Yemeni news agency Saba reported.
The department said that U.S. security officials are going to Jibla to see if the town is safe for Americans.
State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker said there were about 30,000 Americans in Yemen. He did not know how many of them lived in Jibla.
"We'll be working closely with Yemeni authorities to fully investigate this murderous attack," said Reeker.
"The Yemeni authorities have arrested ... and investigated a suspect. And with our consular officials that traveled from the embassy in Sana'a down to Jibla," he said.
"We also had security officials that would go and try to look into the security situation for the other America citizens who are there."
With Friends Like These ...
Although styling itself as a U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, Yemen has increasingly become a hub for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups operating in the Middle East.
In October 2000, al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the USS Cole in a Yemeni harbor, killing 17 U.S. soldiers and causing injuries to 39 others.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, Yemen has increased security cooperation with Washington and allowed U.S. forces to carry out search-and-seek operations inside the country.
Last month, a joint U.S.-Yemeni operation led to the arrest of Abdur Rahim al-Nashiri, the man accused of planning the bomb attack on the USS Cole.
In November, a U.S. plane hit an al-Qaeda target in Maareb region of Yemen and killed six suspected terrorists. Among them was Abu Ali al-Harithi, the man believed to be al-Qaeda's ringleader in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the State Department has warned Americans to defer non-essential travel to Yemen but did not issue a fresh travel warning.
The last travel warning was issued on Nov. 30.
Reeker urged Americans living in Yemen to avoid crowds and vary times and routes of travel. "We'll see if we adjust the travel warning to note this terrible incident of murder and make any changes there. But it certainly remains a dangerous place in our view," he said.
'No Justification'
Reeker rejected speculations that the victims worked for the U.S. government. He said all four were working for Baptist Hospital in Jibla, providing critical humanitarian services to the Yemeni people. "There can be no justification for an attack such as this ... the United States condemns this despicable act."
Baptist Hospital has been working in Jibla for more than 30 years.
Reeker said it was still early to say if the attack was the act of a desperate individual or a terrorist group was behind it.
The Ultimate Intolerance
Wire reports quoted an anonymous Yemeni official as saying that the gunman had confessed to belonging to Islamic Jihad and said he killed the Americans because "they were preaching Christianity in a Muslim country."
Reeker said the Americans who have been living in Jibla were aware of the risks involved, but they opted to stay because they were dedicated to helping the Yemeni people.
Reeker said the United States appreciated the effort Yemen was making to combat terrorism and Washington would continue to help Yemen "wherever we can in developing their counter-terrorism capabilities."
He said the fact that the Yemeni authorities had arrested a suspect was a good start, and Washington expected a full investigation.
Reeker said the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, was open to the public, but young dependents and underage family members were not allowed to join parents at the embassy.
He said while satisfied with the security provided by the Yemeni authorities for the embassy, the United States was requesting additional protection for American citizens in Yemen.
'They Cared for Us'
Southern Baptist International Mission Board identified the dead as hospital director William E. Koehn, 60, of Arlington, Texas, who had planned to retire next year after 28 years of service; purchasing agent Kathleen A. Gariety, 53, of Wauwatosa, Wis.; and Dr. Martha C. Myers, 57, of Montgomery, Ala.
Pharmacist Donald W. Caswell, 49, of Levelland, Texas, was in critical condition after being shot in the abdomen and undergoing surgery.
"We just thank the Lord that he is alive," his father, D.C. Caswell, said in Texas. "He's alert and talking, and everything's going to be all right, they're thinking."
The killings are "a crime unacceptable in any religion. This contradicts Islam," said a Jibla woman who gave only her first name, Fatima, and said she used the hospital.
"They cared for us and looked after us," she said. "I can't even count the number of children they treated and saved."
Mission Board was "devastated by this news," spokesman Larry Cox said. "We are moving quickly to minister to family members" in Yemen and the U.S., he said.
Board president Jerry Rankin said his organization would continue to operate in Yemen as long as the government allowed.
This is a cult of murder-it's not a religion.
Remind you of anyone else we know and love? Hint = the party of free speech.
Are you paying attention, Senator Murray?
I also find that number difficult to believe. 30,000? Anyone else have any information on that score?
Even this is more than these murdering savages can manage.
They kill their own filthy, inferior kind with as much gusto as they murder decent human beings.
Arguing a minor difference in opinion, or simply being female, is sufficient to earn a bullet from your moslem brother in any piss-hole backwater where allah-thralls are in power.
WWMS (What Would McCoy Say)?
Like suicide bombers, he has assuredly reserved himself a place in Hell next to Allah where they can be close for eternity.
Would this be the Highlander School-of-thought brand of Islam ??
"They cared for us and looked after us," she said. "I can't even count the number of children they treated and saved."
Reeker rejected speculations that the victims worked for the U.S. government. He said all four were working for Baptist Hospital in Jibla, providing critical humanitarian services to the Yemeni people. "There can be no justification for an attack such as this ... the United States condemns this despicable act."
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