SAN‘A, Yemen — Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch said yesterday it killed an American teacher because he was trying to spread Christianity in the mainly Muslim Arab nation.
Joel Shrum, a 29-year-old native of Mount Joy, Pa., was gunned down Sunday in the central city of Taiz, where he had been living with his wife and two sons. He was studying Arabic and teaching English at a language institute.
The claim of responsibility was posted on a militant Web site.
“It was God’s gift for the mujahedeen to kill the American Joel Shrum, who was actively proselytizing under the cover of teaching in Taiz,” said the statement by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Shrum had worked at the International Training and Development Center, which was established in the 1970s.