The Frenchman’s killer had psychological problems, family says

_People started to displace from a besieged area where Al Qaeda members believed to be hiding, in fear of possible strikes.
By Nasser Arrabyee/10/10/2010
The family of the young man who killed a French worker last Wednesday in Sana’a said their son was suffering from psychological problems.

“We are sorry for what he has done,” the family said in a statement over phone.
The family, who lives in Mathbah, the northern outskirt of the capital Sana’a, said their son had nothing to do with the extremist groups.

The 19-year old son, Heisham Mohammed Asem, originally from Taiz province, left the school two years ago apparently for economic reasons. Four months ago found a job with a private security company called Al Kon. He was working as a guard in the Sana’a-based Austrian company for energy, OMV.

In early morning of Wednesday, October 6th, 2010, the young man Heisham opened fire on the staff of OMV and killing the French manager of the company and injuring an Irishman. He was shouting Allahu Akbar, Allah Akbar, (God is greater) while shooting, according to many employees who were there.

He refused to surrender himself after he was cornered in one of the rooms of the guards. His father came and convinced him to surrender. The family said the security came to the house for searching and took the only computer set with them.

The security authorities said later that personal and criminal reasons were likely behind the murder.

However, sources working in the company said Sunday that there was nothing personal between the killer and the victim.

“He might have noticed some practices contradicting his religious beliefs and because of his psychological sufferings he wanted to correct things,” said a source from the company.
“Although he was not very religious, but he should have been nervous and depressed enough to do such a thing.”

The source excluded the killer was Al Qaeda affiliates only because he did not kill many foreigners in the company and because he surrendered himself easily.
“If he was Al Qaeda he would not have surrendered that easily and he would have killed as many as possible of foreigners.”

Meanwhile, local sources in the southern province of Shabwah said that hundreds of people have displaced from a besieged area where Al Qaeda members believed to be hiding, in fear of possible strikes.

The sources said hundreds of men and women and children displaced from Yashbom villages to safer places in the same district .

Yashbom is an area in Al Saeed district of the south eastern province of Shabwah where prominent leaders of Al Qaeda including the American-Yemeni cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, are believed to be hiding. The governor of Shabwah and other senior security and military official escaped an ambush allegedly made by Al Qaeda earlier this month in the area of Yashbom.