New details in woman's killing in UAE

• American Ibolya Ryan, 47, was stabbed in a restroom at a high-end mall, police say


• The suspect had logged on to "terrorist websites," an official says


• In October, the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi warned of a threat to attack teachers


• Ryan's ex-husband says the UAE has given him the power to commute a death sentence

(CNN) -- A woman who allegedly stabbed a U.S. teacher at a mall in the United Arab Emirates committed a "personal terrorist act," an official told the nation's official news agency.

The official said she logged on to "terrorist websites" recently, according to the WAM news agency.

The suspect, who has not been identified, is accused of killing 47-year-old American teacher Ibolya Ryan last week in the restroom of an upscale mall in Abu Dhabi. The accused is a female Emirati national of Yemeni descent, the UAE's Interior Ministry said.

Police say they think Ryan, who was the mother of three children, did not know the attacker.

Her death came two months after the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi issued a statement warning U.S. citizens of an anonymous Internet post that encouraged attacks against teachers at American and other international schools.

Woman arrested in UAE mall killing

Arrest in mall attack on American teacher

U.S. woman killed in UAE restroom

The embassy said it was unaware of any specific, credible threat at that time.

Veteran teacher

Ryan was born in Romania and had American and Hungarian citizenship. She had been a teacher for 17 years, according to a Footprints Recruiting profile of her.

Last year, she began teaching in Abu Dhabi, where she lived with her children. Before that, she taught special education in her ex-husband's native Colorado.

Surveillance video released by police shows the moments before and after the mall stabbing.

A veiled figure police identified as the attacker walks calmly through a parking lot entrance, speaks to security guards and picks up a paper before disappearing around a corner and out of sight.

The video later shows the suspect running to an elevator and leaving the mall through the same parking lot doors.

Reem Island, where the attack occurred, is a newly developed area popular with expatriates in the capital.

The motive of the killing was still unclear.

Ex-husband speaks out

Ryan's ex-husband said he was shocked by the fatal stabbing but still feels safe in the UAE.

"I'm totally horrified by what happened," Paul Ryan said. "One just needs to look at the video, the images of that bathroom, and it knocks you out. It knocks you out."

But he said UAE authorities have gone out of their way to ensure his family is taken care of and have offered to pay for his three children's education through college.

"They are treating me like family now," he said. "They have expressed almost precisely in these terms, the children will not have to worry about their education, for their entire education basically."

Ryan could ultimately have the power to commute a death sentence if the suspect is found guilty and given capital punishment. Under UAE law, the victim's family must give their consent in order for a death sentence to be commuted.

The burden weighs heavily on him, he said.

"As far as I can tell, it seems pretty damning evidence, and she (the suspect) confessed herself," Ryan said. "Ibolya, my dear ex-wife, and I do mean that, will not have died in vain."

CNN's Brian Walker, Faith Karimi and Jason Hanna contributed to this report.