Today, Doha residents gathered in the late afternoon to show support for victims and to condemn the attack. It has also been determined that the deceased, Briton Jonathan Adams, 40, was the director of the play taking place at the time of the attack. Additionally, the attacker, Umar Ahmad Abd Allah Ali, was apparently an Egyptian national that had lived in the Gulf state of Qatar for the last 15 years, working as an information technology engineer for state-run Qatar Petroleum.
The attack has been claimed by an as yet unheard of group calling themselves "Jund al-Sham Organization," or the Organization of Soldiers of the Levant, an area comprised of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. The organization issued a statement claiming responsibility, although that statement cannot be confirmed. They also indicated another statement would be released forthwith detailing "the martyrdom-seeking operation carried out by a lion from Jund al-Sham in Qatar."
Egyptian religious scholar Shaikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi denounced the attack, telling Aljazeera.net "Islam strongly forbids the shedding of blood without a reason." Additional details on the story are available here.
This story just gets more disturbing. This most recent report describes how someone saw him sitting in the theater until the intermission before he decided to come back and blow everyone up is really just horrible. Imagine such. It’s premeditated homicide: you sit there, see friends and neighbors, wait until the break, go get in your car and come blow the place up.
I put this kind of action in the same psychological vein as things like the attack at the school in Minnesota or “going postal.” Ascribe polticial intentions if you like, but this has psychological qualities, lots of them. Friends give the usual “he was a normal guy” business, but there was obviously something dark and disturbed going on here. It’s only a matter of time before something gets out about it. Today (I think) they found his lab.
well Jen, I understand your concern. But Doha is a small place that is easily contained. The security is tighter nowadays so hopefully they will be able to stop any potential terrorist attack.
Also I guess in this day and time, terrorism is everywhere, we can’t escape it so we might as well conquer our fear before it conquers us. In a nutshell, maybe your family should reconsider as Qatar can provide really good packages for expatriates.
My family has been contemplating a move to Doha for a job opportunity but now I’m not sure it’s somewhere I want to bring our kids. Is the cultural exposure worth the risk??
I’m telling you what you know, but your blog stories on the Doha blast are just top notch! Thankfully you and hubby didn’t go to the play that night and are safe and sound.
We look forward to a new day, too, when such bloody stunts are completely and unanimously rejected around the world.
love, Mom & Dad T