SA race killer 'respects bin Laden'

2003-04-30 13:45

Pretoria - De Wet Kritzinger, the man who admitted killing three people on a bus in 2000, told a policeman he had great respect for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, the Pretoria High Court heard on Wednesday.

Investigating officer Bennie de Beer testified: "He told me at one stage he had great respect for Osama bin Laden, because he stood his ground and did not turn his back on what he had done."

According to a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Kritzinger said he shot the people on the bus in Constantia Park, Pretoria, in January 2000 because he wanted to be killed by police.

His death would mean his ex-wife could remarry. If she did so while he was still alive, it would be a grave sin, said Kritzinger's statement.

His defence counsel, Louiza van der Walt, told De Beer that Kritzinger would testify that he chose to shoot black people because of farm murders and the killing of white soldiers during a shooting spree at the Tempe military base in Bloemfontein.

State has closed its case

De Beer said Kritzinger had told him the shooting was not politically-motivated, and he did not belong to a political party. He had a religious motive.

Van der Walt asked De Beer whether Kritzinger had not mentioned he hated the Jews because they had been the cause of war since creation.

"That's possible," De Beer replied. "I did not take much note of things he said that were not relevant to the investigation."

The State closed its case after the completion of his evidence.

It is not clear yet whether Kritzinger will be called to testify in his own defence.

- SAPA