BULLETIN: (Updated 10:41 a.m. ET U.S.A.) Police and security forces in the United Arab Emirates have arrested a suspect in the fatal knife attack Monday against a Hungarian-American schoolteacher and say the suspect also planted a bomb outside the residence of an Egyptian-American doctor.
The bomb allegedly targeted the male doctor, his wife and three children. It allegedly was planted after the suspect murdered Ibolya Ryan, 47, a kindergarten teacher formerly of Colorado. Ryan was the mother of three, including twins. She was attacked in a Reem Island mall restroom.
His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, announced the arrest. The suspect has been identified only as a woman who confessed after a raid by security forces. The UAE now is on “the highest levels of alert,” with the incidents described as terrorism, according to a statement released through Abu Dhabi police.
From a statement by Abu Dhabi police (italics added):
His Highness explained that the suspect targeted her victims based on nationality alone and had nothing to do with personal issues. She aimed to create chaos, shake the security in the country, and terrorize people in the UAE. These intentions have put the government on the highest levels of alert. According to HH: “Your brothers at the Ministry of Interior and security forces have worked all night and day to reach this suspect and to identify her – despite all of her attempts to disguise herself. Later that night, a team of security forces headed to the suspect’s location to arrest her. I would like to announce to you that she was arrested and is now in the custody of the police.”
The U.S. Embassy warned Oct. 29 of “a recent anonymous posting on a Jihadist website that encouraged attacks against teachers at American and other international schools in the Middle East.”
Although it remains unclear whether Jihadists engineered the attacks on Ryan and the unidentified doctor, the UAE itself appears to be ramping up security.
