UNESCO Official Slain in Amman
AMMAN, Jordan — The acting director of a UNESCO regional office in Amman was shot and killed by a driver for the office Sunday after the man burst into an office and started firing, officials said.
Government sources said the director, Hamad Khawat of Sudan, was killed when the driver burst into a meeting of the U.N. organization. Khawat’s secretary and another person were wounded.
Other employees said the driver was apparently distraught because he feared he might lose his job.
“He just came in and started shooting and everybody hit the floor,” a UNESCO employee said. “It wasn’t political, he was just crazy.”
The driver, identified as Subhi Youssif Sukkar, a Palestinian resident of the Russeifeh refugee camp outside Amman, was said by UNESCO employees to have been receiving psychiatric treatment after a nervous breakdown.
“He was terrified . . . that he would lose his job,” a co-worker said.
Sukkar escaped after the shooting and was being sought by police.
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