ABU DHABI: Man allegedly kills male friend who suggested having sex

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An Arab man has been arrested and charged with murder in the Persian Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, after he allegedly killed a man who propositioned him for sex.

According to news reports coming out of the Gulf today, police arrested a non-Emirati, identified only by the initials YA, who allegedly stabbed to death a 40-year-old man late last month.

Police said the two men used to drink together. But when the older man, an Emirati, identified by the initials AA, asked the younger one to have sex with him, ‘the suspect got angry and engaged in a fight with the victim, who picked up a knife from the kitchen and tried to stab him,’ police Col. Hamed Ahmad Hamadi said, according to Gulf News.

‘The suspect, however, managed to grab the knife and stabbed the victim several times in his abdomen and back, resulting in his death,’ the officer said.

The suspect, YA, then allegedly fled the scene after tossing the knife next to the victim and locking the door to the room where they had fought.

Gulf News described YA as a 27-year-old; the Khaleej Times and Emirates Business said he was 22.

The suspect allegedly confessed to stabbing the Emirati but said he did so in self-defense, according to police

If convicted of premeditated murder, the suspect could be sentenced to death under Abu Dhabi’s penal code.

-- Borzou Daragahi in Beirut