Four Face Death For Murder Of Two UK Aid ‎Workers

London , November 15, 2005 (THE BIRMINGHAM POST) – Four men have been sentenced to death for the murder of two British aid workers in Somaliland .

Richard and Enid Eyeington were shot dead at the school they helped to build 90 miles north of the breakaway state's capital, Hargeysa, in October 2003.

The attack is thought to have been part of a violent campaign mounted against Westerners by Islamic extremists linked to al Qaida.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said four men had been sentenced at a court in the capital for murdering Mr. Eyeington, 62, and his 61year-old wife.

They were also convicted over the murder of a Kenyan aid worker, and "unrelated" counts of carjacking and armed robbery, she added.

However, the judge ruled there was not enough evidence to find any of the defendants guilty of killing Italian aid worker Annalena Tonelli and ordered further investigation.

Fifteen defendants were not convicted of any crime.

"The UK is opposed to the death penalty and we made out position clear," she said.

"A letter from the British ambassador was delivered tothe authorities outlining our opposition."

Some of those accused are reported to have shouted "Allah Akbar (God is great)" and protested that they should not be killed for assassinating infidels as the judge delivered his sentence.

Mr. and Mrs. Eyeington moved to Somaliland in 2002 and worked with Austrian aid agency SOS Children's Villages to build the Sheikh Secondary School .

Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 as civil war raged across much of the southern part of the East African country following the ousting of long-time dictator Mohammed Siyad Barre.

It is not internationally recognized as an independent state

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