/ 9 September 2001

COUSINS SPEND BLOOD MONEY ON GUNS

AN Egyptian farmer had his head blown off by four cousins in an alleged revenge attack after they spent the blood money he had given them on a set of automatic rifles. The cousins allegedly emptied 30 bullets into the head of Kamal Fatiha (35) after surprising him on his way to the fields in the early morning in a village south of Cairo, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported. Police investigations showed the dead man had been involved in a 1998 fight with his cousins over building a couple of steps between their neighbouring houses which ended with one of their brothers being killed, the paper said. The village set up a peacemaking committee which decided that Fatiha and his family should pay 5 000 Egyptian pounds in blood money to settle the score, which they did, investigations showed. But the cousins, who have since been arrested, used the money to buy three automatic rifles and a pistol which they used in the attack, Al-Akhbar said. – AFP