Abu Dhabi woman held in fatal stabbing did not act alone, police now say
A woman arrested Thursday in Abu Dhabi and charged with the stabbing death of an American schoolteacher was not a “lone wolf,” police in the Gulf emirate said.
Word of the gruesome attack, which left a trail of blood in a public restroom at an Abu Dhabi mall, rattled the United Arab Emirates, a westernallied, seven- state Gulf federation that is a regional banking and business hub and includes the tourist haven of Dubai. Violent crime and terrorist attacks are rare in the oil- rich country, where the foreign- born population numbers 76 per cent. The attack raised fears that the country could be targeted by Islamic State- inspired “lone wolf” terrorist attacks.
But Abu Dhabi police believe the suspect, identified as Dalal al- Hashemi, a 38- year- old U. A. E. citizen of Yemeni origin, was not acting alone.
Later Thursday, other people were arrested at al- Hashemi’s house, which the police described as a “base of operations.” However it was not clear what groups, if any, she may have been linked to or whether the additional arrests were connected to the attack.
Police claim that al- Hashemi confessed to the crimes.
She was charged with killing Ibolya Ryan, a kindergarten teacher and mother of 11- yearold twins. Al- Hashemi was also accused of planting a bomb in front of an Egyptian- American doctor’s apartment on the Corniche, an upscale waterfront road, about an hour after the stabbing attack in a ritzy Abu Dhabi mall on Reem Island.
The homemade explosive device, composed of small gas cylinders, a lighter, glue and nails, was found by one of the doctor’s sons and later dismantled. Its components were part of a video Abu Dhabi police made public shortly after the arrest. The video also shows other occupants of al- Hashemi’s villa.
Interior Minister Saif bin Zayed al Nahyan said al- Hashemi targeted her victims based on their nationality and did not know either of them. He said she “aimed to create chaos, shake the security in the country and terrorize people in the U. A. E.” The motive for the stabbing wasn’t known, but in October the U. S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi had issued a warning to U. S. citizens about an anonymous web posting urging attacks against American teachers. It noted no specific threats.
Ryan was stabbed to death by someone wearing a black abaya and veil that covered the suspect.