Abu Dhabi: A man convicted of killing a Saudi soldier while he was offering the Fajr prayers has been executed, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Wednesday.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior, posted a picture of the heroic martyr soldier on his Twitter account with a caption saying: “Retribution has been done, may God have mercy on you, hero,” following the execution of the killer of the first soldier in Security patrols in Jeddah province, Hadi bin Misfer Al Qahtani.
The ministry said Walid Sami Al Zuhairi, an Egyptian, committed the crime against Al Qahtani, while he was in the prayer hall of a petrol station.
It stated that Al Zuhairi did so with misguided terrorist motives.
The perpetrator took advantage of the soldier being alone inside the prayer hall and stabbed him several times before fleeing the scene.
The authorities were able to arrest him and seize the weapon used in the crime. The killer confessed to his crime and admitted his affiliation with the terrorist group Daesh.
The criminal court charged the defendant with murder and affiliation with a terrorist group and sentenced him to death. The sentence was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
