August 27, 2008	Wednesday	Sha'aban 24, 1429

LONDON: A gang of youths beat to death a 16-year-old language student from a wealthy Qatari family, in what is being treated as a racist attack in a British seaside town, police said on Tuesday.

Post mortem results were expected during the day after Mohammed Al-Majed was assaulted following an altercation between his friends and a group of local youths outside a takeaway kebab shop in Hastings on the south coast.

Witnesses said the English language student was kicked to death by drunken, hooded thugs in an unprovoked attack.

Majed suffered a serious head injury and died in London’s King’s College Hospital on Sunday following the attack late Friday, which is being investigated as a racially-motivated murder, Sussex Police said.

Police said they were continuing to question an 18-year-old local man on Tuesday. Three other men, aged 17, 18 and 20, have been arrested, interviewed and released on police bail pending further inquiries. The murder was widely reported in British national newspapers on Tuesday.

“The young man had spent about five weeks in Hastings and was due to return home next weekend. His death is incredibly sad,” said Sussex Police Chief Inspector Natalie Carron said.—AFP