UAE executes Alaa Al-Hashemi for killing American teacher

The UAE executed Alaa Al-Hashemi, convicted of killing American kindergarten teacher Ibolya Ryan inside a bathroom at a shopping mall last year.

Alaa Bader Abdullah al-Hashemi stabbed Ibolya Ryan, 47, to death inside toilets at the shopping centre in December 2014. The state ruled that the murder was an act of terrorism.

According to WAM, the country’s state run media, al-Hashemi, 30 – who has six children – was executed on Monday morning.

The woman also attempted to detonate a bomb outside the apartment of another American on the same day as Ms Ryan’s murder. However, the bomb failed to detonate.

Al-Hashemi was also found guilty of sending money to al-Qaeda in Yemen and of publishing information aimed at harming the reputation of the Emirates, a seven-state federation that includes the commercial hub of Dubai.

The killing has shocked the seven-state Gulf federation which is home to a large immigrant population, and where violent crime and terrorist attacks are rare.

Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the incident was “alien to our secure country”, and said the attacker targeted her victims because of their nationality, in an attempt to terrorise and create chaos in the country.

“The victim of this brutal crime was a schoolteacher who was committed to building strong future generations,” he told reporters.

Agencies/Canadajournal