Kuwaiti sentenced to hang for killing American

KUWAIT CITY -- A Kuwaiti court sentenced an Islamic extremist Wednesday to death by hanging for killing an American civilian working for the U.S. military.

Sami al-Mutairi, a 25-year-old civil servant who authorities say was inspired by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network, also seriously injured a second American civilian contractor in the Jan. 21 attack.

Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, was killed near Camp Doha, the main U.S. military base in Kuwait, and David Caraway, 37, was seriously wounded. Both were employed by a software company based in San Diego, Calif.

Al-Mutairi was also sentenced to eight years on other charges, including illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and carrying out acts against the state's interests.

Death sentences are automatically appealed in Kuwait and may only be carried out after the emir signs a decree.

The court sentenced three other Kuwaitis to prison after convicting them of being accomplices to the attack on the Americans.

Badi al-Ajmi and Khalifa al-Daihani were each sentenced to three years in prison for providing al-Mutairi with the weapon and bullets used in the attack. They have said they confessed under duress.

Abdullah al-Oteibi, who is at large, was sentenced in absentia to eight years for training the defendant to use weapons.

A fourth defendant was acquitted in absentia.

None of the defendants were present as the verdicts were read by a judge Wednesday.

Prosecutors said al-Mutairi planned the attack carefully and waited behind a hedge for an hour before choosing his victims. He shot the Americans when they stopped at a traffic light after leaving the base.

In court testimony last month, al-Mutairi said police officers forced him to read a prepared confession in front of a video camera.

On the tape, which was played in court April 16, al-Mutairi said: "I'm convinced of what I did ... I don't regret it."

Asked if he would do the same again, he replied: "Certainly."

Al-Mutairi, who worked as a psychology researcher at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, fled to Saudi Arabia after the attack. He was arrested and extradited to Kuwait.

His lawyer said the verdict was "too hasty" and he planned an appeal.

"We do not accept this verdict and will appeal," lawyer Mohammed Minwer al-Mutairi said. "This sentence aims to please public opinion and has nothing to do with the facts on the ground."

While Kuwait is a U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, scores of its citizens fought and trained with Islamic groups in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia. Such extremists oppose the U.S. military presence in Kuwait, which an American-led coalition liberated from Iraqi occupation in the 1991 Gulf War.