DALLAS (ABP) – A man convicted of murdering three Southern Baptist missionaries in a Yemeni hospital in 2002 died by firing squad Feb. 27, Reuters reported.
Abed Abdel Razzak Kamel's execution happened in the southern Ibb province, the same region where he shot a doctor and two hospital administrators during their routine morning meeting.
Authorities already executed Kamel's accomplice, Ali al-Jarallah, Nov. 27 of last year. The Yemeni government convicted Al-Jarallah of masterminding the 2002 shooting and of committing a separate murder a Yemeni Socialist Party official. Both al-Jarallah and Kamel had ties to Al Qaeda, including meetings with network members and audiotapes of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
In court testimony before his sentencing, Kamel said he committed the killings to get closer to God and take revenge on Christians and Americans, according to Reuters. A student at the al-Iman university, widely known as the place where American Taliban John Walker Lindh studied, Kamel had a fake bandage on his hand and a blanket wrapped to look like a baby when he entered the hospital.
After entering an office area, Kamel unwrapped the blanket to reveal a Kalashnikov rifle. He shot Martha Myers, 57, from Alabama; William Koehn, 60, from Texas; and Kathleen Gariety, 53, from Wisconsin. According to their requests, all three were buried in Yemen. A pharmacist, also a Southern Baptist missionary, who suffered severe abdominal wounds in the attack recovered.
Now known simply as Peace Hospital, the former Jibla Baptist Hospital developed under the work of Southern Baptist missionaries and the International Missions Board. The IMB went through with a transfer of ownership of the hospital to the Yemeni government soon after the shooting, over the objections of some staff members.
IMB officials declined to comment on the execution, although they posted the news of the execution on their website.
Peace Hospital treats roughly 40,000 patients each year and gives free services to those who cannot pay. Run by the Yemeni government health ministry since 2003, the hospital was started by Southern Baptist missionaries more than 30 years ago. Missionaries teach English and clinical skills at the nearby nursing school, according to the Associated Press.
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