Last update - 11:05 02/03/2009

By The Associated Press

A Yemeni court has ruled that a Muslim on trial for killing a Yemeni Jew is mentally incompetent and ordered he to pay a fine for the fatal shooting.

The slaying of Jewish teacher Moshe Yaish Nahari last December in Omran, north of the capital, San'a, raised fears of anti-Semitic attacks across the country.

Nahari was shot to death in a market in the city of Rida, after the alleged murderer called on him to convert to Islam.

Nahari has four sisters living in Israel, who left for Yemen as soon as they heard of the tragedy.

Monday's ruling says the defendant - Abdel Aziz Yehia Hamoud al-Abdi, a retired pilot in the Yemeni air force - is mentally unstable. It orders he pay a fine of 50.5 million riyals, or about $250,000.

Lawyer Khaled al-Anisi representing the slain teacher says the court showed prejudice and warned the light ruling opened doors to attacks that could lead to the eviction of the Jewish community from Yemen.