July
2011
Introduction
to “Ohio’s Death Row Confession”:
I feel as if my whole life had been the companion of pain and suffering.
Surely
had a very little happiness in it, which had been dragging me around the
world from places of horror and misery, to places of unjust and cruelty.
I
was born to a Muslim family in Beirut, Lebanon. I was the third child of
seven. We all lived in a two room’s house. Life was uneasy for my
father. So he took me out of school before I finish my 4th
grade. I started to work with him, for a short while, tell he found me
another place to work at. In short, I worked in many different places.
I
was 16 years old when the civil war started in 1975. Life there becomes
unbearable and was filled with pain and suffering. And because of this ,
my father started looking for a better place to live in. so, America was
his place of choice.
My
family went to America 4 years ahead of me. I had to stay behind because
I was 20 years old and had to apply for my own immigration visa.
Four
years later, my family called me from America. They told me to go down
to the American embassy, and to bring with me my passport and fifty
American dollar, to pay for the cost of immigration visa and have it
stamped on my passport.
Before going to the embassy, I asked my uncle if he knew anyone works
inside the embassy, that could help me get inside the building quickly,
instead of standing long hours under the heat of the sun. my uncle
responded saying, “ Yes, I do know someone works there.” Then he
directed me to go to the other side of the building and to knock on the
door there. A man will open the door. Tell him that my uncle is going to
Italy and will bring back a leather shoes for you. Anyhow, I did what my
uncle said me to do. But the man ( I forgot his name) won’t let me in,
because the ambassador wasn’t there to stamp my visa. He asked me to
come back tomorrow. So, I left the place with anger and frustration, but
as soon as I had crossed the street and sat in my car and started to
pull out of the parking space by the side of the road, a tremendous
explosion went off behind me. It shook up everything in the area. And
without any hesitation, I ducked my head down and pushed the pedal to
the metal and speed away without knowing where the explosion was. But as
soon as I got home, and before I had a chance to sit on the couch,
someone was knocking on my door very hard. I opened the door to see
what's going on there. I found my downstairs neighbor at the door saying
to me, with fear in her eyes, "Have you seen my husband ? !"
"Have you seen my husband?!"
I respond back saying, "What?!" "Where is your
husband?"
She told me that her husband works at the American embassy and someone
had just blew it up!!
As
soon as I heard her saying this, I could no longer stand up on my own
two feet and my face turned yellow. I never knew that her husband work
at the embassy.
But
a few minutes later, my neighbor came back to tell me that her husband
was in East Lebanon with the ambassador. Anyhow, it took me a few days
to digest what had just happened to me !! And not to mentioned that God
had already saved me from death 12 times like this, and I am always
grateful for His mercy and His protection.
I
want everyone to know that I am very ashamed in exposing my marital
problem and the way that those people had used my religion (Islam)
wrongfully to destroy me and to take my child away from me.
My intention in revealing my confession letter to you is to tell the
truth about my case and not to disrespect my own religion or any other
religions. But if I unintentionally did so, I profoundly apologize for
it in advance and I ask the Lord for His forgiveness.
Awkal II
An Execution Date set
