Jordan to execute female suicide bomber in response to pilot's murder by ISIS
"The revenge will be as big as the calamity that has hit Jordan," the Jordanian army spokesman Colonel Mamdouh said.
By REUTERSActivists protest in Amman, after the release of a video purportedly showing Islamic State captive Jordanian pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh being burnt alive(photo credit: REUTERS)
Jordan announced Tuesday that it will execute Sajida al-Rishawi, who is on death row for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in Amman, in response to the execution of Mouath al-Kasaesbeh.Islamic State had originally demanded Rishawi's release in return for the life of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.Jordanian pilot"s last moments in ISIS captivityA government spokesman said in a statement that Jordan would deliver a "strong, earth-shaking and decisive" response."The revenge will be as big as the calamity that has hit Jordan," army spokesman Colonel Mamdouh al Ameri said in a televised statement confirming the death of the pilot, who was captured in December when his plane crashed over Syria.US Vice President Joe Biden met with Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday and "reinforced America's ironclad support" for Jordan and its role in the coalition fighting Islamic State militants, the White House said. Biden offered his condolences to the family of al-Kasaesbeh, and called for the release of hostages held by Islamic State.A video released online on Tuesday showed his murder from multiple angles. Apparently soaked in an accelerant, a line of fire approaches a barred pen, encircles the prisoner and consumes him.Al-Kasaesbeh was captured by Islamic State on December 24, 2014 after his warplane was downed in northeastern Syria on Wednesday. He was the first captive taken from the US-led coalition battling the jihadi group.Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
