SANAA, 26 August 2003 — A Yemeni court yesterday handed down a death sentence to a man convicted of killing nine people in a shooting spree in a mosque last month, judicial sources said.
Mohsin Yahya Munassar Al-Hilali, 38, was convicted of fatally shooting eight students and their teacher after bursting into the mosque in Yahar in the province of Lahij, 300 km south of Sanaa, on July 30.
The students were aged seven to 16.
The court in Lahij also sentenced Al-Hilali to 10 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of two people who survived the machine-gun attack. Al-Hilali rejected the verdict and said he would appeal, the sources said.
