​Suspect held in murder of American in Abu Dhabi

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A woman has been arrested in the murder of an American teacher in Abu Dhabi.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Footprints Recruiting on Thursday identified the slain teacher as Ibolya Ryan, saying it had placed her in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.

According to police, Ryan was stabbed in a public restroom at a mall in Abu Dhabi on Monday by a suspect wearing the full black veil commonly worn by women throughout the Gulf Arab region.

Footprints Recruiting called the killing of the 37-year-old kindergarten teacher a "senseless tragedy."

At a press conference this morning, Interior Minister Prince Saif bin Zayed said the female suspect, a 36-year-old UAE citizen, is now in police custody, reports CBS News' Khaled Wassef.

Prince Zayed characterized the murder as "an unprecedented, heinous crime" in the United Arab Emirates.

He said the same suspect had also planted a homemade bomb outside the residence of another American citizen, a doctor. The bomb was discovered by the man's son, who reported it to police.

The building was evacuated, and a bomb disposal unit successfully defused the device, which consisted of a small gas canister, a lighter, glue and nails.

The Minister said the suspect targeted the victims because of their nationality, and not for any personal disagreements with them. He said she sought to stir instability, insecurity and terrorize her fellow citizens.

The UAE is a Western-allied, seven-state federation that includes the glitzy commercial hub of Dubai and the oil-rich capital Abu Dhabi. It is home to a sizable Western population, with foreigners outnumbering Emirati citizens.

The UAE prides itself on being a safe haven in the turbulent Middle East. It is part of the U.S.-led coalition conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

CBS News security analyst Juan Zarate said Thursday that while the suspect's motives remain unclear, the attack came as ISIS calls on Muslims across the world to stage "lone wolf" attacks on any Westerners they can. Security officials often lament the fact that small-scale individual operations of this nature can be virtually impossible to detect or thwart.