YEMEN: FOUR HUNT OIL EMPLOYEES SHOT, THREE FATALLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000511 SIPDIS TERREP E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2010 TAGS: PTER ASEC CASC YM SUBJECT: YEMEN: FOUR HUNT OIL EMPLOYEES SHOT, THREE FATALLY Classified By: AMB: EJHULL FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Four Hunt Oil employees working at a Hunt rig in Marib were shot by a Yemeni employee shortly before 1215 hours local March 18. Ron Horsch, an American citizen, was killed, as was William Seville, a Canadian, and Anam Al-Qubati, a Yemeni. Another Canadian, Mark Edwards, has two gunshot wounds, to the abdomen and to the leg, and will shortly be transferred to the Yemen-German Hospital in Sanaa. The assailant was a Yemeni, Naji Ahmed Al-Kumaym, working at the Hunt site, an employee of the Nabors firm. After shooting Horsch, Seville, and Edwards, Al-Kumaym shot himself dead. ¶2. (C) Karim Abu Hamad of Hunt, our source for the above information, indicated that Al-Kumaym, as a Nabors employee, was a familiar presence at the Marib site. He was reportedly carrying a concealed handgun which he used as the fatal weapon. Abu Hamad said that Hunt has shut down the rig, alerted all employees to hunker down and maintain security; Hunt headquarters in Dallas has been informed, as have ROYG security officials and President Salih's office. ¶3. (C) We are maintaining contact with Hunt. We are offering medical assistance if necessary, and following up regarding contacts with next-of-kin and arrangements for Mr. Horsch. We have alerted the Operations Center by phone and the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh. We are initiating contact with the Ministry of Interior to launch an immediate investigation, including the FBI representative at post, and are also in touch through liaison channels with PSO. ¶4. (C) Comment: At this initial stage, it is not possible to determine if these Hunt shootings were motivated by terrorism, by a job-related grievance, or by al-Kumaym's personal sense of grievance in the heated environment of regional developments. HULL