UAE court sentences husband of ‘Reem Island ghost’ to jail

A court in the United Arab Emirates sentenced a man convicted of Islamist militancy to life in prison on Monday, Dubai-based Arabiya TV said, almost a year after his wife was executed for killing an American kindergarten teacher.

The stabbing attack in an Abu Dhabi mall was rare for the UAE, a tourism and economic hub, and her husband – identified by Emirati media by his initials M.A.S. – was arrested and charged with supporting militant groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda.

The woman – Ala’a Badr Abdullah al-Hashemi, 31, was sentenced to death last year for stabbing Romanian-born Ibolya Ryan, a mother of 11-year-old twins, in the toilet of an Abu Dhabi shopping mall and attempting to bomb an American-Egyptian doctor in 2014.

Hashemi was also convicted of setting up a social media account to spread militant ideology with the intention of undermining the government and, and of giving money to militant organizations for attacks.

Police said Hashemi had become radicalized over the internet and had not been targeting an American in particular, but was looking for a foreigner to kill at random.

Attacks on Westerners are rare in the UAE, but concern has been rising after a spate of Islamist attacks in other Gulf countries in recent years.

The UAE has joined air strikes in Syria against the ISIL group, which has urged Muslims in Gulf countries to target Western expatriates in retaliation for attacks against it. The UAE is also a strong opponent of other Islamist groups including the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read: ‘Reem Island ghost’ executed in UAE for killing American teacher