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

The United Arab Emirates executed a UAE woman convicted of terrorism early on Monday after the militant-inspired killing of an American kindergarten teacher in December 2014, the state news agency WAM reported.

Ala’a Badr Abdullah al-Hashemi, 31, was sentenced to death 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 a year ago.

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, WAM reported.

The report did not disclose how Hashmei was executed.

Police said last year 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, a wealthy oil exporter and tourism hub, but concern has been rising after a spate of Islamist attacks in other Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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.