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