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             UAE Court Issues Death Sentence in Killing of American

   by Associated Press

   A court in the United Arab Emirates sentenced to death a woman
   convicted of murdering an American teacher with a butcher knife in the
   bathroom of an upscale Abu Dhabi mall, the state news agency WAM
   reported Monday.

   Attacks against foreigners are rare in the UAE, which is home to the
   popular tourist destination of Dubai and where expatriates far
   outnumber Emirati citizens. Police said at the time of the attack in
   December that the attacker had targeted her victim based on nationality
   alone in an attempt to create chaos in the country. She had also
   planted a bomb outside another American's house that was discovered
   before it detonated.

   The attacker was identified as Emirati national Alaa Bader Abdullah
   al-Hashemi, a 30-year-old mother of six, according to the Abu
   Dhabi-based The National newspaper. International media were not
   allowed inside the courtroom to cover the trial.

   The murder of schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, left a trail of blood in
   the public restroom at the mall in the capital's upscale Reem Island.
   The attacker wore the full black garment and face veil traditionally
   worn by local women throughout the Gulf, and appeared to have chosen
   her victim randomly.

   Ryan, who had three children, had been living in Abu Dhabi with her 11
   year-old twins and had taught at an elementary school in Colorado
   before moving to the UAE.

   Judge Falah al-Hajri, who chaired the Federal Supreme Court case, said
   in remarks carried by WAM that "unfamiliar crimes in the UAE society
   have been emerging" with the aim of spreading terror. He defended the
   death sentence as "necessary to tackle such actions."

   In addition to the murder, al-Hashemi was convicted of sending money to
   al-Qaida in Yemen and publishing information with the intent to harm
   the reputation of the UAE.

   The court verdict cannot be appealed, though the country's ruler must
   ratify the ruling.

   While UAE law allows for the death penalty in certain cases, capital
   punishment is rarely carried out. The last-known executions were in
   2011 and 2014, against two men convicted of murder.
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   merican/2841810.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ap-uae-court-death-sentence-killing-american/2841810.html