Yemen killer: "Jews should convert to Islam"

It looks like the murder of Moshe al-Nahari will be dismissed as the act of a disturbed individual, rather than a jihadist, despite the fact that the Jews of Amran were subject to attack before the murder - and since:

AMRAN, Yemen (AFP) — A Yemeni confessed on Monday to killing a Jew, saying in court that he had warned that the minority should convert to Islam or leave the country, but his lawyers said he was mentally disturbed.

"I killed the Jew," Abdul Aziz Yahya al-Abdi, 39, screamed from the dock, referring to Masha Yaeish al-Nahari, whom he shot dead over a week ago in the town of Raydah, in the northern province of Amran.

"I have told them in a letter that they should either convert to Islam or leave Yemen, or I would kill them," he said, speaking of the minority of a few hundred Jews who continue to live in the Arabian peninsula country.

Only the immediate relatives of the victim were in court which was filled with members of Abdi's tribe, along with five lawyers who volunteered to defend him.

The hearing was the second, following the opening of the trial on Saturday.

"This man has wronged us," said the victim's father, addressing the judges, pointing at Abdi who appeared in a blue prison uniform.

Abdi said his act was "in accordance with a masters' dissertation I wrote on their electronic war and jihad (holy war) in the name of God."

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Update: The Yemen Times quotes the victim's father: "If he is crazy, why give him a gun?"In this sympathetic piece, Mohammed al-Qadhi argues that relocating the Jews to Sana'a will not solve the underlying problem - rising intolerance and antisemitism.

Ynet News

Yemen Observer: killer demands American lawyer; victim's family demand he be executed in accordance with Sharia law.