Jordan executes bomber sought by ISIS and second prisoner after pilot burned aliveFailed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi and Zaid al-Karbouly, also linked to al-Qaeda, who are both Iraqi nationals were executed before daybreak at Swaqa Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre, government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said.
The executions come after a video surfaced Tuesday showing Islamic State (ISIS) militants killing 26-year-old Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, a Jordanian fighter pilot, by burning him alive in a cage.
In the video, purportedly showing his killing, al-Kaseasbeh, who has a black eye, speaks into the camera for nearly five minutes. About 15 minute into the footage, al-Kaseasbeh, wearing an orange jumpsuit, then walks in front of a line of masked men wearing matching military uniforms. He appears to be doused in a flammable liquid.
He had been captured by ISIS in December after his F-16 crashed while he was flying a mission as part of the U.S.-led air campaign against the group.
Jordan promised a swift and lethal response to the gruesome death, which sparked outrage and street demonstrations in Jordan, where the country's participation in the anti-ISIS coalition has not been popular.
Al-Rishawi, who was convicted in September 2006 had been sentenced to death for her involvement in a coordinated al-Qaeda attack on three on hotels in Amman that year, which killed 60 people and left 90 wounded. During the attack, she was wearing a belt of explosives and a belt of ball bearings that failed to detonate in the middle of a crowd of wedding guests.
Al-Karboli had been convicted in 2008 for killing a Jordanian national.
A week ago, Jordan had said it was willing to swap al-Rishawi for the captured pilot, but froze any swap after failing to receive any proof that the pilot was still alive. Jordanian TV said the pilot was killed as long ago as Jan. 3.
Jordan, a staunch Western ally, had been conducting indirect, behind-the-scenes negotiations through tribal leaders in neighboring Iraq, according to the Associated Press.
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