JEDDAH, 13 May 2006 — Police arrested the alleged killer of a Lebanese woman from his hideout in Sahafa district in central Jeddah in the early hours of Thursday, reports said yesterday.
Muhammad Habibullah, a Bangladeshi national, told police during questioning that he had mistakenly stabbed the woman as he attacked her husband, the manager of a kitchen equipment store where he worked.
Habibullah said he was provoked by the behavior of the Lebanese manager, according to Al-Watan newspaper.
He had requested the manager to process his papers for vacation several times but his requests were ignored, he claimed, adding that it had been several years since he had seen his family.
The Lebanese woman was killed on Wednesday afternoon in Jeddah’s Al-Salama district during a fight between her husband and the Bangladeshi.
When Habibullah went to his manager’s apartment, the man’s wife answered the door. A verbal argument ensued between the two men with the woman between them. The suspect allegedly tried to attack the man with a knife, but ended up cutting a major artery of the woman’s hand.
She had been trying to keep the two men from fighting when she was attacked. The wife bled to death before she could receive medical treatment.
The woman had come to Jeddah to spend a few days with her husband and then return to Lebanon where her children studied.
According to the report, Habibullah told the police that he had worked out an escape plan after committing the crime. He said he planned to throw away his iqma and other identification documents and then turn himself in to immigration officials under a false name. He hoped that the authorities would deport him for staying in the country illegally.
Investigations into the incident continue with the suspect in custody.
