Pakistani who killed two CIA employees executed in Virginia; possible reprisals feared

<br>JARRATT, Va. (AP) _ Softly chanting ``There is no god but Allah'' in his native language until he lost consciousness, a Pakistani man was put to death by injection for the slayings of two CIA

Friday, November 15th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

JARRATT, Va. (AP) _ Softly chanting ``There is no god but Allah'' in his native language until he lost consciousness, a Pakistani man was put to death by injection for the slayings of two CIA employees gunned down outside the agency's headquarters in 1993.

Now that Aimal Khan Kasi has been executed, the State Department is bracing for retaliation some fear may erupt against Americans around the globe.

Kasi, 38, spent his last hour praying with a Muslim cleric before being put to death Thursday night at the Greensville Correctional Center. He died at 9:07 p.m.

Kasi's execution focused international attention on the tiny town of Jarratt, where security around the prison was greatly increased in response to warnings from the State Department that his death might put Americans in danger.

State troopers accompanied Kasi into the death chamber. Two correctional officers with shotguns stood on each side of the road near the prison entrance, and several armed officers were posted in front of the prison.

Kasi told The Associated Press last week he had no regrets about the killings but did not want any retaliation for his execution. Kasi's family near Quetta, Pakistan, also pleaded for calm.

``Kasis are a peaceful tribe. We want peaceful solutions to every problem,'' said his older brother, Nasibullah Kasi. ``We do not want the Kasi name to be used to harm anybody.''

Kasi killed CIA communications worker Frank Darling, 28, and CIA analyst and physician Lansing Bennett, 66, as they sat in their cars at a stoplight in McLean. Three other men _ another CIA analyst, an engineer and an AT&T employee _ were wounded as Kasi shot into a row of stopped cars with a semiautomatic AK-47 rifle.

He fled the country and spent most of the next 4 1/2 years hiding in and around the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. He was caught in a hotel while visiting Pakistan in 1997 and was returned to the United States.

Kasi confessed to the slayings during the return flight, saying he was angry over CIA meddling in Muslim nations.

One of the prosecutors who helped convict Kasi witnessed the execution.

``I'm satisfied that justice was done,'' said Raymond F. Morrogh, Fairfax County chief deputy commonwealth attorney.

Also present for the execution was FBI agent Brad Garrett, who was on the investigative team that found Kasi in Pakistan.

``Apparently they've struck up a rather interesting friendship,'' corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said, noting that Garrett had been on Kasi's visitor and phone list while he was on Death Row.

Kasi spent Thursday in a cell a few feet from Virginia's death chamber. He met with two of his brothers, his attorneys and his spiritual adviser, Traylor said.

For his last meal, he requested fried rice, bananas, boiled eggs and wheat bread, Traylor said.

No family members of the victims attended the execution.

About 80 anti-death penalty protesters held a candlelight vigil in a field near the prison. Bundled against the cold, they read the names of the 87 people Virginia has executed since capital punishment was reinstated in 1982, along with their victims. A Muslim cleric read a prayer in English and Arabic.

Hours before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal and Gov. Mark R. Warner denied a request for clemency, saying Kasi had ``shown absolutely no remorse for his actions.''

Some Pakistani politicians pleaded with American officials to spare Kasi's life, saying commutation could ``win the hearts of millions'' and help the United States in its war on terrorism. Hundreds of religious students protested in Pakistan this week, warning Americans there that they would not be safe if Kasi was executed.

The family of Judy Becker-Darling, widow of Frank Darling, hoped for calm.

``We will spend time in prayer for Kasi, that God will have mercy on his soul, for his family, that there be no terrorism reprisal, and for world peace,'' the family said in a statement.