U.S. aid workers killed in Yemen
SAN'A, Yemen (CNN) --A suspected Islamic extremist shot dead three U.S. humanitarian workers and wounded a fourth at a missionary hospital in southern Yemen, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Yemeni officials said the suspect was an Islamist militant who told police after his arrest that he had shot the two men and two women to "cleanse his religion and get closer to Allah," according to Reuters.
Al-Saqqaf said the gunman reportedly sneaked into the hospital, posing as a father.
"One of the eyewitnesses there said that he came in the office as if he had a child beneath his jacket [but] it turned out to be ... a semi-automatic rifle that he used against them," he said.
The dead are William Koehn, the hospital administrator; Kathleen Gariety, the hospital business manager; and Dr. Martha Myers, an obstetrician, said Wendy Norvelle of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, which runs the hospital.
The wounded worker is Don Caswell, a pharmacist. He was taken into surgery shortly after the attack and is expected to recover from his wounds, Norvelle said.
The gunman opened fire at the Baptist hospital in Jibla -- about 120 miles south of the capital San'a -- as the U.S. staff prepared to hand over control to local authorities, hospital spokeswoman Julie Toma told CNN.
The gunman apparently tracked down one of the victims in a separate room inside the hospital, Al-Saqqaf said.
"It seemed somewhat a pre-planned attack," he said. "Perhaps the person who knew that [the hospital staff] would be coming at that particular time ... wanted to do as much damage and harm as possible."
Norvelle said the three who were slain had served at the hospital for a number of years, and Koehn was planning to retire next year.
"We've been operating a hospital for 35 years, and we've treated more than 40 thousand patients a year...and we continue to have plans to have personnel here," said Norvelle.
The U.S. Embassy in San'a issued a statement condemning the shooting, and urged Yemen's government to bring those responsible for the attack to justice.
"We call upon the Yemeni government to bring those responsible to justice," the statement said.
"We are advising American citizens in Yemen to enhance their personal security and are requesting additional protection for American citizens in Yemen."
Toma said hospital administrators believed the attack was an isolated event perhaps triggered by backlash against the transfer of power.
About 30,000 Americans live in Yemen, most of them Yemeni-Americans, said U.S. Embassy spokesman John Balian.
Security in Yemen has been a U.S. priority since the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors. That was blamed on terrorist group al Qaeda, which is held responsible for the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is a hotbed for extremist Islamic militant groups, finding refuge in the country's mountainous, tribal strongholds.
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Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/12/30/yemen.doctors/index.html
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Heathen, n. A benighted creature who has the folly to worship something that he can see and feel.
Ambrose Bierce, the Devils Dictionary
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