A Yemeni court of appeals sentenced a retired air force pilot to death on Saturday for the murder of a Jewish man. The court, in the northwestern province of Amran, convicted 40-year old Abdul-Aziz al-Abdi with premeditated murder.
Al-Abdi confessed to shooting Moshe al-Nahari, the Chief Rabbi’s brother, last December in the northwestern town of Raida. Following the shooting, he told investigators that he warned the areas Jews that they must either embrace Islam, leave the country, or be killed.
In March Yemeni court ruled al-Abdi to be mentally unstable sending him to a psychiatric institution and forcing him to pay YER5.5 million in blood money for al-Nahar’s family. Al-Nahari’s father appealed the verdict, leading later led to the new ruling.
The attack sparked anger among Yemen’s Jewish community, estimated at nearly 400 people.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
