Female bomber wanted revenge

2005-11-15 13:37

Amman - The Iraqi woman who failed to blow herself up in an Amman hotel had three brothers killed by United States forces.

The killing of Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi's three brothers in Iraq's volatile Anbar province is being considered as a possible motivation behind her participation in last week's triple bombings, which killed 60 people, including her husband and two other Iraqi bombers.

Al-Rishawi comes from Anbar's provincial capital of Ramadi.

Her brother, Thamir al-Rishawi, was a member of an al-Qaeda cell operating in Anbar.

He was killed in the April 2004 US operations in Fallujah. An air-to-ground missile hit his pickup.

Family friends, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution from insurgent forces, said al-Rishawi's two other brothers, Ammar and Yassir, were killed in attacks against US troops in Ramadi.

Police arrested al-Rishawi in a safe house in western Amman on Sunday, after the Iraqi al-Qaeda cell issued an internet statement saying a woman was among the four Iraqi attackers.

In a televised confession on Sunday, al-Rishawi revealed no motive for trying to bomb the Radisson SAS hotel.

She said her husband brought her to Jordan from Iraq.

He fitted her with an explosives belt and told her it would be used in a suicide bombing attack.

Jordanian intelligence officials say their interrogation of al-Rishawi, which could last for about a month before she is eventually charged, has been going slowly with few details of her motivation emerging.

According to a senior security official close to the interrogation, al-Rishawi could face the death penalty if she is convicted of conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack that killed people, and for possessing explosives with the aim of using them illegally.

In her confession, al-Rishawi said she wanted to join her husband in attacking the Radisson, but her bomb - packed with 10 kilograms of RDX explosives and ball-bearings - malfunctioned.

Her husband, Ali Hussein Ali al-Shamari, managed to detonate his bomb, killing more than 20 people attending a Jordanian-Palestinian wedding reception.

Two other hotels - the Grand Hyatt and Days Inn - were bombed by Iraqi's Safaa Mohammed Ali and Rawad Jassem Mohammed, both 23.

Jordanian police believe al-Rishawi may provide vital clues to al-Qaeda in Iraq, possibly even al-Zarqawi's whereabouts.

They also believe more people helped arrange the attacks, but it is unclear if they are among the 12 suspects under arrest.

In a bid to stop further foreign militants operating covertly in Jordan, Jordanian interior minister, Awni Yirfas, announced new regulations on Tuesday. The regulations demand that Jordanians notify authorities within 48 hours of any non-Jordanian renting an apartment or house.

Jordan has also begun drafting tough new anti-terrorism laws, that specifically target terror crimes.

- AP