Kuwaiti convicted in shooting of two U.S. reservists

KUWAIT CITY -- In the first trial after a series of attacks on U.S. military personnel in Kuwait, a judge on Wednesday sentenced a policeman to 15 years in prison for seriously wounding two American soldiers.

The judge said the sentence was intended to deter anyone who might think of harming Americans. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops are deployed in Kuwait in preparation for a possible war on neighboring Iraq.

"This is not fair, your honor!" the defendant, Khaled al-Shimmiri, shouted from the dock after the sentence was read. Al-Shimmiri, who had been under psychiatric care for months before the attack, had pleaded insanity.

In addition to the sentence of 10 years for attempted murder and five for unlawful possession of a weapon, to be served consecutively, Judge Nayef al-Mutairat ordered al-Shimmiri, 20, to be dismissed from the Kuwaiti police force.

Prosecutors had asked for the harshest possible sentence, life in prison.

The shooting came amid growing anti-American sentiment in this small oil-rich ally of Washington. Across the Arab world, the looming U.S. attack on Iraq has been portrayed as part of an alleged American campaign to control Arab lands and wealth.

Al-Shimmiri is not known to have any connections with Muslim fundamentalists. In October, Muslim extremists killed one U.S. Marine and injured another as they trained in Kuwait. More recently, Islamic radicals were accused of shooting and killing an American civilian and wounding one other, both of whom had been working for the U.S. military.

In a written explanation of its ruling, the court said it was convinced al-Shimmiri had planned to murder the soldiers.

The defendant had "disobeyed God" by shooting at "two people ... for no reason other than being American," the court ruling said. The victims were in Kuwait because of agreements signed by Kuwaiti leaders and sanctioned by the Parliament, it added.

Al-Shimmiri's attack had caused "feelings of enmity against Muslims," and his punishment should deter others from committing the same mistake, the court said.

Master Sgt. Larry Thomas, 51 and Sgt. Charles Ellis, 27, both reservists from Lake Charles, La., were driving along a Kuwait desert highway on Nov. 21 when al-Shimmiri, in a patrol car, flagged them down, ostensibly for speeding, and shot and seriously wounded them.

Though as a policeman al-Shimmiri was authorized to carry a gun, he had called in sick that day and therefore, officials said, should not have had his weapon, leading to the unlawful possession charge.

Al-Shimmiri's lawyer had questioned why his superiors allowed him access to a gun at all when he had been under psychiatric care.

"The man on trial has lost his mind ... he has committed his crime in a heated political situation," defense lawyer Nawwaf al-Mutairi had told the court earlier Wednesday. He said he would appeal.

Al-Shimmiri had testified that he didn't remember the shooting and had no motive for such an attack.

Government psychiatrists testified that al-Shimmiri had a bipolar disorder that made him overactive, hallucinate, irritable and sleepless at times, but that he was "responsible for his actions."