A Yemeni man suspected of having ties to al Qaeda has testified that he killed three American missionaries – including one Alabama Baptist – at a Southern Baptist hospital because he believed they were trying to convert Muslims.
Abed Abdul Razak Kamel told a court in Jibla, Yemen, April 20 that he planned the Dec. 30 attack for a year and a half, the Associated Press reported.
“I acted out of a religious duty,” said Kamel at the opening of his trial in southern Yemen.
The 30-year-old man said he entered the hospital hiding a semiautomatic rifle under his clothes and opened fire on a staff meeting.
Kamel further testified he traveled to Jibla in July 2001 and began to scout his target by visiting the hospital and asking about its activities. “I found out that they were truly converting Muslims into Christians,” he said.
Jibla residents have said Americans at the hospital never discussed religion. Yemeni law bars non-Muslims from proselytizing in the country, which is overwhelmingly Muslim.
The three Americans who were killed were Dr. Martha C. Meyers of Montgomery, Kathleen A. Gariety of Wauwatosa, Wis., and William E. Koehn, a native of Cimarron, Kansas. Donald w. Caswell, from Levelland, Texas, was injured.
Kamel said he coordinated the attack with Alial-Jarallah, another suspected Muslim extremist.
Neither Kamel nor the prosecutor mentioned al Qaeda. But Yemeni security officials have said Kamel may belong to a terrorist cell with links to al Qaeda.
The prosecutor asked for the death penalty in Kamel’s case.
(RNS)
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