Child killer claims murder was 'unintentional'

DUBAI // The Emirati fishing boat captain sentenced to death last month for raping and murdering a four-year-old boy in a mosque has told a judge he did not intend to kill the boy. In a dramatic reversal during his first appearance in the Dubai Court of Appeals today, when a judge asked Rashid al Rashidi, 30, if he killed Moosa Mukhtiar Ahmed on the first day of Eid al Adha last year, he replied "yes, but unintentionally". He had plead guilty to premeditation in a lower court. Rashidi did not appeal the homosexual assault of the boy. Surrounded by 12 security guards, Rashidi appeared in court handcuffed and wearing white death row coveralls, a red stripe across his chest. His beard had whitened significantly since he was sentenced to death last month. He told the court he had no legal representation, so the judge postponed the hearing until next Sunday when court-appointed legal representation could be present. Rashidi, who was convicted of killing Moosa in a mosque toilet near the boy's house, became the 43rd person to receive the death sentence in Dubai since 1993. amustafa@thenational.ae