US embassy cable - 03SANAA2842

UNCLAS SANAA 002842 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, PGOV, CASC, ASEC, YM, COUNTER TERRORISM 
SUBJECT: YEMEN APPEALS COURT APPROVES DEATH SENTENCE FOR 
JIBLA SHOOTER 
 
REF: A. SANAA 2341 
     B. SANAA 1079 
 
1. (u) On December 1, a three-judge panel affirmed the death 
sentence of Abed Abdulrazak al-Kamel, who was convicted in 
May 2003 of the December 30, 2002 murders of 3 U.S. citizens 
at Jibla hospital (ref b).  Lawyers for Kamel said he will 
appeal the decision to the Yemen Supreme Court.  Court 
officials, however, expect that the conviction will be upheld 
and passed to President Saleh, who is likely sign off on the 
order to carry out the sentence.  No specific date has been 
set for Kamel's execution. 
 
2. (u) Kamel claimed he coordinated the attack with Ali 
al-Jarallah, who was convicted of both the Amcit murders and 
the assassination of Yemeni Socialist Party Deputy 
Secretary-General Jarallah Omar in a separate trial in Sana'a 
 
SIPDIS 
in October 2003 (ref a).  Jarallah is also expected to appeal 
his conviction and sentence. 
 
3. (sbu) Comment: The appeals court's decision to affirm the 
lower court conviction was not a surprise to anyone but the 
defendant, who apparently expected to have his sentence 
commuted to life in prison.  Post has had representatives at 
Kamel's trial and appeal proceedings, which have been 
relatively transparent and openly reported in the local 
media.  End comment. 
 
HULL