10 November 2008 :

a Canadian citizen is one step closer to execution after a Saudi appeals court upheld his death sentence. "The decision by the appeal court against Mohamed Kohail, 23, is probably the most serious setback we've suffered," said Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who has worked closely on the Kohail file. A Saudi court upheld a verdict that found Mr. Kohail guilty of beating 19-year-old Munzer Al-Haraki to death in a schoolyard brawl in Jeddah last year, according to several sources in Ottawa and Saudi Arabia. That means, unless the appeals court issues a last-minute turnaround, only the Supreme Court and possibly Saudi King Abdullah stand in the way of Mr. Kohail's execution. It is unclear how long it will take for the Supreme Court to sign off on the verdict, and whether the King will interfere, but it could be a matter of weeks or even days, leaving the Canadian government with little time to act.