YEMEN APPEALS COURT APPROVES DEATH SENTENCE FOR

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