KUWAIT CITY, 5 June 2003 — A criminal court yesterday sentenced to death a 25-year-old Kuwaiti for the murder of an American civilian near a US army base in the emirate early in the year.
Sami Al-Mutairi was found guilty of staging a highway ambush on Jan. 21 that killed Michael Rene Pouliot and seriously wounded David Caraway, both contractors for the US Army. The shooting near Camp Doha, the largest US army base in Kuwait, was the second fatal attack against Americans in the emirate since last October and the first to target civilians.
Mutairi was also given a total eight-year jail sentence on other charges, including illegally leaving Kuwait, according to a court statement. “The verdict is very harsh but fortunately we have a right to appeal the verdict and we will appeal,” defense lawyer Osama Al-Munawer said. Mutairi, who pleaded not guilty, fled to Saudi Arabia where he was captured two days later and brought back to Kuwait.
An Interior Ministry statement released after his arrest said he admitted the crime and “confessed he embraced the ideas of Al-Qaeda.” The court was shown a confession tape in which Mutairi said he did not regret the attack and would do it again if freed.
