And now with the news on the international war on terrorism, here’s Laura Kiel.
An Islamist extremist shot and killed three American missionaries on Monday. The victims were all staff members of a Baptist hospital in Jibla, Yemen. Surgeon Martha Myers, Hospital Director William Koehn, and purchasing agent Kathleen Gariety, were holding a meeting when the gunman entered and opened fire.
The man, who reportedly slipped into the hospital hiding his gun cradled like a baby, was arrested and described as a suspected Muslim extremist. The Jibla hospital is run by the American Southern Baptist Convention. The President of its International Missionary Board, Jerry Rankin:
JERRY RANKIN
“Our personnel, as Americans and Christians, are well aware of the risks of living and serving in a place like Yemen, yet their love for the Yemeni people and obedience to the conviction of God’s leadership has been expressed in a willingness to take that risk and give of their lives.”
The Baptist Hospital in Jibla treats more than 40,000 patients yearly, providing freed care for those who can not afford it. Experts are speculating about an al-Qaida connection.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL CLARKE
“It has now become a movement which inspires a lot of acts in its name, many of which will be carried out in a pretty uncoordinated way. And this one looks fairly uncoordinated, fairly individual.”
In the Russian Republic of Chechnya, a much more horrific act of terror on Friday of last week. Despite heavy security around the headquarters of the Moscow backed Government in Chechnya, suicide bombers rammed two explosive-laden trucks through surrounding barriers and detonated them. More than 80 people were killed.
In the United States, the search for five men of Arab descent, who, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may have entered the U.S. with fake passports at the Canadian border. Security expert Matthew Levitt.
MATTHEW LEVITT
“If someone is trying to sneak their way into this country, especially if they’re associated with any kind of terrorist element, we work on the assumption they’re coming here to do some bad.”
And in France, anti-terrorist police have arrested a baggage handler at the Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris. Guns, explosives and detonators were found in his car. His arrest is the latest in a roundup of suspected Islamic militants in the Paris area in recent weeks.