Killer of Two at CIA Executed in Virginia

[sassa]

Killer of 2 at CIA executed in Va.

Pakistanis rally in support of Aimal Kasi Wednesday in Multan, Pakistan.

NBC NEWS AND NEWS SERVICES

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 14 — Aimal Khan Kasi was executed at the state prison Thursday night — Friday in Pakistan — and the State Department, wary of possible reprisals, said four U.S. diplomatic missions in Pakistan would close early as a precaution. Fearing retaliation against Americans abroad, authorities had already tightened security before the execution of Kasi, a Pakistani convicted of killing two CIA employees and wounding three others in 1993.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT urged Americans in Pakistan to “exercise maximum caution and take prudent measures.”

In Pakistan, hundreds of religious students protested for a fourth day Wednesday, calling the United States the biggest terrorist of all and warning Americans in that country that they would not be safe if Kasi died.

Kasi spent the day in a cell only a few feet from Virginia’s death chamber, meeting with two of his brothers, his attorneys and his spiritual adviser, corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said. For his last meal, he requested fried rice, bananas, boiled eggs and wheat bread, Traylor said.

Security around the Greensville prison, 55 miles south of Richmond, was greatly increased, according to a prison source, but not visibly. The only evidence was two correctional officers with shotguns standing on each side of the road near the prison entrance, and several officers with sidearms in front of the prison.

In a recent interview, Kasi told NBC News he opposed any retaliation for his execution, but also said he felt he was justified in his attack and was not remorseful.

KASI: NO REPRISALS

“I don’t encourage people to attack anybody,” Kasi told NBC’s Pete Williams in a phone conversation from prison.

Kasi said the killings were an attack on the U.S. government, not individuals, for its policies in the Middle East. The attack “showed U.S. government that officials can get hurt in the United States also,” he said.

Virginia plans to execute Kasi, 38, on Thursday night — drawing interest from both the international community and vigilant U.S. officials.

“Someone with national and even international credentials like this, it mandates that we take extra precautions,” said Col. Gerald Massengill, head of Virginia State Police. He said it would be “inappropriate” to provide security details.

APPEAL DENIED

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied an appeal by Kasi. NBC’s Williams reported that Kasi’s lawyers had mounted a last-minute legal challenge, but by an apparent 7-2 vote, the court denied it. Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Ginsburg said they would have granted the stay to consider legal issues raised by Kasi’s lawyers.

A clemency petition is being considered by Gov. Mark Warner. The petition includes pleas from Kasi’s mother and Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.

Some Pakistani politicians have pleaded with American officials to spare Kasi’s life, saying a commutation of the death sentence could “win the hearts of millions” and help the United States in its war on terror.

Kasi was convicted of killing CIA communications worker Frank Darling and CIA analyst and physician Lansing Bennett as they sat in their cars at a stoplight outside CIA headquarters in McLean, Va. Three other men were wounded as Kasi walked along the row of stopped cars, shooting into them with an AK-47 assault rifle.

Two days after his conviction, four American oil company workers were shot to death in Karachi.

‘FULL FORCE’

A Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman declined to comment on security arrangements for the execution by injection, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

Greensville County Sheriff Wyatt Lee said he usually sends five or six of his 22 deputies to executions at the death chamber in Jarratt, about 55 miles south of Richmond. “We will be out in full force,” he said.

Capitol police officers would have increased patrols at the Virginia Supreme Court and at other unnamed locations, though the chief of capitol police said no threats had been made.

“It’s because of who he is and what he did,” Col. George Mason said.

In an interview last week, Kasi condemned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because civilians were killed, but he stood by his actions because they targeted government agents.

At the Kasi home, his family urged calm and prayed for a miracle.

“Kasis are a peaceful tribe. We want peaceful solutions to every problem,” said Kasi’s older brother, Nasibullah Kasi. “We do not want the Kasi name to be used to harm anybody.”

[dnice35]

they should have stoned that fucker to death.

[underwater]

i agree....ever see that stoning video on the internet??....its crazy...if you are a guy you get buried up to your waste....a women gets buried up to her neck....the rule is if you can wrangle your way out of the hole and break free of the circle of stoners you get to live...i think all child molesters should be stoned....that would make people think twice about that.....this dude should be sent to alaska and put into hard labor until he droped dead....they should also chop their balls off and make them keep it in a jar next to their prison bed for the rest of their lives....