Ibolya Ryan (''née'' Balaszi), born and raised in Romania, was a Hungarian-American kindergarten teacher murdered in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, on 1 December 2014.

Overview

The murder was committed by a woman wearing black gloves and a veiled niqab, who proved to be unknown to the victim. After committing the murder, the perpetrator planted a bomb at the home of an Arab–American physician. These attacks, taking place in the wake of a spate of attacks on Westerners in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, attracted international coverage and raised concerns in the international security and business communities. The stabbing, which took place in Boutik Mall, an Abu Dhabi shopping mall located on

Al Reem Island Reem Island ( ar, جزيرة الريم) is a natural island located 600 metres off the coast of Abu Dhabi island. It is a mixed purpose community with both residential, retail and commercial units. Development Sorouh Real Estate, now merged w ...

, and was caught on tape in a routine surveillance video, unsettled citizens and the foreign population of Abu Dhabi because acts of terrorism are an extremely rare event in the

. The Emirates have classified the murder as a

lone wolf A lone wolf is a wolf not belonging to a pack. Lone wolf or Lone Wolf may also refer to: Literature *''Lone Wolf'', a book by Kathryn Lasky, part of the series called ''Wolves of the Beyond'' *''Lone Wolf and Cub'', a 1970 Japanese graphic nov ...

terrorist attack inspired by terrorist ideology acquired online.

Incident

Murder

At the beginning of the investigation, authorities left open the possibility the murderer could have been a man in disguise.American teacher stabbed to death in restroom of Abu Dhabi mall , Reuters
/ref> Two days after the murder, on 3 December,

Abu Dhabi Police Abu Dhabi Police is the primary law enforcement agency in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates. Overview Under the command of Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, the Abu Dhabi Police ...

released a statement that, "Investigations are still under way to identify the suspect's identity and gender. Witnesses reported that the culprit was fully covered wearing an abaya, black gloves and face cover." Abu Dhabi Security Media Department at the Ministry of Interior posted a video on its official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel, showing

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

footage of the suspect, dubbed the "Reem Island Ghost", who stabbed the American kindergarten teacher Ibolya on Monday afternoon on

.Abu Dhabi Police Security Media - Security Media Releases CCTV Footage of Suspect who Stabbed American Woman on Reem Island
/ref> On the

footage, people on the scene can be seen reacting to the killing. One mother with a young child can be seen hurrying him away while security guards move towards the corridor. People appear to be alerted to something happening in the toilets and while a security guard moves along the corridor into them, the suspect moves towards the elevators. The video then shows the assailant fleeing the scene following the crime that took place inside the washroom of a shopping mall, wearing a black abaya, black gloves and the face-covering veil known as niqab. Police said the victim was stabbed to death with a "sharp tool" following an argument in a women's restroom. On the surveillance footage, the robed suspect is seen stepping off an elevator, briefly interacting with a security guard, then taking a newspaper before walking toward the restroom. Some 90 minutes later, the suspected attacker runs back into the lobby as shoppers scatter, shakes off a woman who tries to stop the suspect, and boards an elevator to a parking garage before fleeing. The tape ends with footage of a bloody trail of footprints leading from one of the restroom stalls. On the morning of Thursday 4 December, news sources mentioned that

were able to catch the killer. Later during the day, General Sheikh

Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan ( ar, سيف بن زايد آل نهيان; born 1968) is United Arab Emirates's minister of interior since October 2004 and deputy prime minister since May 2009.">Abu Dhabi Police Security Media - Saif bin Zayed : The "Al Reem Ghost" in Police Custody
/ref> Sheikh Saif described the crime as "a slap to every noble human value that the UAE cherishes- all of which are derived from the teachings of Islam and the genuine Arab heritage." He stressed that the UAE vigorously defends such civilized values both on its own soil and outside of its borders, and expressed his deep sorrow to witness such crimes in a country that is characterized by security and safety.

Murderer

There was a conflict in information about the real identity of the murderer. While international news coverage mentioned that the murderer was 38-year-old Yemeni-born UAE citizen Alaa al Hashemi, UAE based newspapers mentioned on 4 December that the murderer was not called Dalal al Hashemi. A few months later, UAE based news coverages started to refer to the murderer as Alaa Bader Abdullah, also called Ala'a Badr Abdullah al-Hashemi. The woman was reported to have been executed in 2015.

Attempted bombing

Security videos show, and police reports confirm, that Ryan's murderer returned to her car and drove to the home of an Egyptian-American expat physician where she planted a bomb, which was discovered by the physician's son before it could explode. The physician's 13-year-old son discovered the bomb on his way to evening prayers at mosque. According to WAM, the materials used in the homemade bomb were "primitive". The Security Media Department posted a dramatic

video explaining the details of the crime which included images taken from

. The video also highlighted the search and inspection procedures conducted by the police and security forces, which eventually led to the arrest of the suspect and solved the mystery behind the crime. There are also shots showing the same white

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

that the suspect was seen driving from the scene of the crime. Blood can be seen on the steering wheel and a black suitcase - identical to the one she allegedly carried to the doctor's apartment - are also shown in the police video. In 4 December video, the suspect is also seen heading towards the doctor's home with a small black suitcase. A security guard said he saw her enter and then leave quickly. The bomb was spotted when the doctor's son was going to mosque in the evening to pray and noticed the strange object in front of the house.

Victim

Ryan was a naturalized US citizen and Hungarian citizen. She was the mother at the time of 11-year-old twin sons, who lived with her in Abu Dhabi, and a 13-year-old daughter who lived with Ryan's ex-husband in Vienna, Austria. She self-described as Hungarian-American, born and raised in Romania, who had taught in four countries including the United States over the preceding 15 years. She and her husband had moved to Sopron, Hungary with their 3 children about 8 years prior, and subsequently divorced.

Classification as terrorism

The move to classify the incident as an act of terrorism was not taken lightly in Abu Dhabi, where the economy depends on the labor of hundreds of thousands of ex-pats and on tourism. According to an unnamed security official in the U.A.E. and reported by the official

WAM (Emirates News Agency) Emirates News Agency ( ar, وكالة أنباء الإمارات, Wakalat Anba'a al Emarat), also known as WAM, is the official news agency of the United Arab Emirates. History and profile The WAM was established in November 1976. It started an ...

, shortly before the attack the killer had logged on to terrorist websites and "acquired the terrorism ideology and learned how to manufacture explosives." According to WAM, the "crimes she had committed are the result of a personal instigation and a lone terrorist act."

Context

The economy of the UAE depends on the tight security for which its member states are noted. The murder followed a September 2014 statement by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, spokesman for the self-described

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

urging Muslims to murder Westerners and people from any country participating in attacks on the Islamic State — "kill him in any manner or way however it may be." The Emirate has taken an important and well-publicized role in that war. The attack can be viewed as part of a "trend of terrorist acts through inspiration rather than a direct order from militant groups", including the

2014 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming attack The 2014 Saint Jean sur Richelieu ramming attack was a terror car ramming that occurred in Quebec on October 20, 2014. Two Canadian Forces members were hit by a lone wolf terrorist, Martin Couture-Rouleau. Warrant officer Patrice Vincent died f ...

, the beheading of French tourist Herve Gourdel in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and recent killings of Danish and American nationals in Saudi Arabia.

Response

The UK

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO) issued new security warnings on 5 December, advising that indiscriminate attacks could be made on foreigners in the Gulf States and elsewhere, "Attacks could be directed against British interests. There is considered to be a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals, from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria." The US

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Overseas Security Advisory Council The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and p ...

(OSAC) issued a new security advisory, urging Americans in the Gulf to vary their routines and schedules. American Security officials had previously warned expatriates working in the Middle East of a

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

web posting urging attacks on teachers in American schools. A fundraising effort was launched by the recruitment firm involved with bringing Ryan to Abu Dhabi in order to bring Ryan's body home and provide for her children's education. The Ryan family took control of the fund weeks later and repurposed it to assist Ryan's family in Romania. The expat community in Abu Dhabi was shaken by the murder; security in Abu Dhabi is tight and the country is usually considered safe for foreign workers.

Trial

In late June 2015, the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

the accused Emirati woman, Alaa Bader al-Hashemi, for the crimes. The ruling was made by the supreme court, and could not be appealed. Hashemi had reportedly requested the court for psychological help, on account of a chronic mental illness and "unreal visions". However, psychiatric tests ordered by the court showed that she had been aware of her actions and that her mental condition was not found to have affected her actions.

Execution

Ahmed Al Dhanhani, Attorney General for the State Security Prosecution, announced that on Monday morning, 13 July 2015, the ruling of The State Security Circuit of the Federal Supreme Court No. 73 of 2015 on the execution of Alaa Bader Abdullah had been carried out, following the approval of President

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar,  خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving f ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Ibolya 2014 in the United Arab Emirates Attacks in Asia in 2014 Terrorism deaths in the United Arab Emirates Terrorist incidents in the United Arab Emirates History of Abu Dhabi Deaths by stabbing in the United Arab Emirates People murdered in the United Arab Emirates Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2014 United Arab Emirates–United States relations Stabbing attacks in 2014 American people murdered abroad Hungarian people murdered abroad Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks Female murder victims 2014 deaths 21st century in Abu Dhabi 2014 murders in Asia