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Captured Iraqi wife of suicide bomber could provide clues into al-Zarqawi's terror operations
By JAMAL HALABY - Associated Press Writer
AMMAN, Jordan - (AP) The Iraqi wife of a suicide bomber, who
tried but failed to blow herself up in Amman's triple attacks that killed 57
people last week, was arrested Sunday after a tip-off that ironically came
from al-Qaida itself, Jordanian officials said.
Announcing the major break in the case, officials said they believe
the 35-year-old woman, the sister of a top now-slain al-Qaida operative, may
provide significant information about al-Qaida's operations in Iraq.
The woman, wearing a fancy dress over a TNT-packed belt, strolled
into the Radisson SAS Hotel wedding party last Wednesday, but her trigger
cord failed and her husband pushed her out of the ballroom in order not to
attract attention to the couple before blowing himself up, officials said.
The woman _ identified as Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, the
sister of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's slain right-hand man in Iraq's volatile
Anbar province _ is scheduled to confess live on television later Sunday,
officials said.
The quick and dramatic capture marked a blow to Jordanian-born
al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be spreading his terrorist acts beyond Iraq's
borders.
Jordanian counterterrorism officials, insisting on anonymity because
of the sensitivity of their position, said they think the woman could
provide significant leads into al-Zarqawi's whereabouts and his terrorist
operations in Iraq.
However, officials also fear her capture may also spur al-Zarqawi
and his henchmen to try to avenge the arrest with even more deadly bombings
in Jordan or against Jordanian interests abroad, the officials told The
Associated Press.
Al-Zarqawi, who traveled from militant training grounds in
Afghanistan to Iraq before the U.S.-led 2003 war, has been sentenced to
death in absentia in Jordan for terror-related crimes here. He has vowed to
topple the kingdom's moderate Hashemite rulers.
Authorities were tipped-off to her existence by an al-Qaida claim,
posted on the Internet, that a total of four Iraqi bombers _ including a
husband and wife team _ had carried out the attacks.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said authorities had identified
three male suicide bombers, including the woman's husband, as Iraqis. He
said the four drove into Jordan from Iraq on Nov. 5, just four days before
the attacks and rented an apartment in western Amman. They took taxis last
Wednesday to the attack sites, which also included U.S. hotel chains Grand
Hyatt and Days Inn.
Al-Rishawi, the would-be woman bomber, is the sister of the slain
militant Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, the former right-hand man of al-Zarqawi,
the head of al-Qaida in Iraq, Muasher said. He said the brother was killed
by U.S. forces in the one-time terrorist stronghold of Fallujah, west of
Baghdad, but it was unclear when.
Al-Qaida in Iraq had already claimed responsibility for the
bombings, which it said four bombers carried out. The group said the attacks
were to strike at Jordan's support for the United States and other Western
powers.
A top Jordanian security official, insisting on anonymity because he
is not authorized to speak to the press, said the woman was arrested Sunday
morning at an Amman "safe house," in the same Amman district where her
husband had rented a furnished apartment earlier in the week.
He said Jordanian security was "tipped off" by al-Qaida's claim.
"There were leads that more people had been involved, but it was not
clear that it was a woman and we had no idea on her nationality," the
official said.
He said intelligence officials were interrogating the woman.
King Abdullah II, who also said Sunday that three Iraqi men and one
woman carried out the attacks, has pledged to pursue terrorists and their
sympathizers.
Muasher identified al-Rishawi's husband as Ali Hussein Ali
al-Shamari, 35, also from Anbar. The others were Rawad Jassem Mohammed Abed
and Safaa Mohammed Ali _ both 23.
The four left their apartment on Wednesday _ the day of the attacks
_ each to a different destination, except for the couple, who arrived at the
Radisson, where almost 300 people were attending a Jordanian-Palestinian
wedding reception in one of the hotel's ballrooms.
Al-Rishawi entered the hotel's reception with her husband. When the
husband noticed his wife was having trouble detonating her bomb by pulling
its primer cord, he "pushed her out of the ballroom. Once she was out, he
blew himself up," Muasher said.
He said the Iraqi bombers chose the hotels because they were "easy
targets" _ a reference to lax security that existed before the attacks, but
has since been beefed up at hotels across town, with metal detectors and
policemen.
Muasher added that officials believe the wedding party was targeted
because the bombers wanted to "inflict the biggest number of casualties and
victims."
The Jordanian security official said Radisson was picked because it
was a favorite spot for Israeli tourists.
The bomb strapped to the Radisson bomber's body was packed with the
powerful explosive RDX and ball bearings and was designed to kill as many
people as possible, Muasher said.
Investigations showed that no Jordanians were involved in the actual
attacks, but several Jordanian followers of al-Zarqawi have been arrested,
the deputy premier added.
Al-Qaida in Iraq's operation in Jordan _ its deadliest inside a
neighboring Mideast country _ have raised fears that al-Zarqawi's terror
campaign has gained enough momentum to spread throughout the region.
Jordan's confirmation of the Iraqi link could harm recently warmed
relations, although Muasher ruled that out and insisted that the Iraqi
government and its 400,000-strong exile community in Jordan had no
connection to the blasts.
"It's true that the terrorists are Iraqis, but this doesn't mean
that the Iraqi government is involved or condones such actions," Muasher
said. "We all know that the (Iraqi) government suffers from this group."
Iraq's defense minister also offered Jordan its support in the hotel
bombings probe and warned that unchecked violence in Iraq will spread
terrorism across the region. "We are partners in facing terrorism," Defense
Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi told The AP.
The terrorists' "target is to kill tolerance and destroy coexistence
in Arab and Muslim cities," al-Dulaimi said.
Al-Dulaimi also criticized Syria for letting Islamic extremists
train on its soil and enter Iraq to carry out terrorist attacks. The United
States and Iraq have repeatedly called on Syria to lock down its borders and
stop al-Qaida in Iraq extremists from entering Iraq.
By JAMAL HALABY - Associated Press Writer
AMMAN, Jordan - (AP) The Iraqi wife of a suicide bomber, who
tried but failed to blow herself up in Amman's triple attacks that killed 57
people last week, was arrested Sunday after a tip-off that ironically came
from al-Qaida itself, Jordanian officials said.
Announcing the major break in the case, officials said they believe
the 35-year-old woman, the sister of a top now-slain al-Qaida operative, may
provide significant information about al-Qaida's operations in Iraq.
The woman, wearing a fancy dress over a TNT-packed belt, strolled
into the Radisson SAS Hotel wedding party last Wednesday, but her trigger
cord failed and her husband pushed her out of the ballroom in order not to
attract attention to the couple before blowing himself up, officials said.
The woman _ identified as Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, the
sister of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's slain right-hand man in Iraq's volatile
Anbar province _ is scheduled to confess live on television later Sunday,
officials said.
The quick and dramatic capture marked a blow to Jordanian-born
al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be spreading his terrorist acts beyond Iraq's
borders.
Jordanian counterterrorism officials, insisting on anonymity because
of the sensitivity of their position, said they think the woman could
provide significant leads into al-Zarqawi's whereabouts and his terrorist
operations in Iraq.
However, officials also fear her capture may also spur al-Zarqawi
and his henchmen to try to avenge the arrest with even more deadly bombings
in Jordan or against Jordanian interests abroad, the officials told The
Associated Press.
Al-Zarqawi, who traveled from militant training grounds in
Afghanistan to Iraq before the U.S.-led 2003 war, has been sentenced to
death in absentia in Jordan for terror-related crimes here. He has vowed to
topple the kingdom's moderate Hashemite rulers.
Authorities were tipped-off to her existence by an al-Qaida claim,
posted on the Internet, that a total of four Iraqi bombers _ including a
husband and wife team _ had carried out the attacks.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said authorities had identified
three male suicide bombers, including the woman's husband, as Iraqis. He
said the four drove into Jordan from Iraq on Nov. 5, just four days before
the attacks and rented an apartment in western Amman. They took taxis last
Wednesday to the attack sites, which also included U.S. hotel chains Grand
Hyatt and Days Inn.
Al-Rishawi, the would-be woman bomber, is the sister of the slain
militant Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, the former right-hand man of al-Zarqawi,
the head of al-Qaida in Iraq, Muasher said. He said the brother was killed
by U.S. forces in the one-time terrorist stronghold of Fallujah, west of
Baghdad, but it was unclear when.
Al-Qaida in Iraq had already claimed responsibility for the
bombings, which it said four bombers carried out. The group said the attacks
were to strike at Jordan's support for the United States and other Western
powers.
A top Jordanian security official, insisting on anonymity because he
is not authorized to speak to the press, said the woman was arrested Sunday
morning at an Amman "safe house," in the same Amman district where her
husband had rented a furnished apartment earlier in the week.
He said Jordanian security was "tipped off" by al-Qaida's claim.
"There were leads that more people had been involved, but it was not
clear that it was a woman and we had no idea on her nationality," the
official said.
He said intelligence officials were interrogating the woman.
King Abdullah II, who also said Sunday that three Iraqi men and one
woman carried out the attacks, has pledged to pursue terrorists and their
sympathizers.
Muasher identified al-Rishawi's husband as Ali Hussein Ali
al-Shamari, 35, also from Anbar. The others were Rawad Jassem Mohammed Abed
and Safaa Mohammed Ali _ both 23.
The four left their apartment on Wednesday _ the day of the attacks
_ each to a different destination, except for the couple, who arrived at the
Radisson, where almost 300 people were attending a Jordanian-Palestinian
wedding reception in one of the hotel's ballrooms.
Al-Rishawi entered the hotel's reception with her husband. When the
husband noticed his wife was having trouble detonating her bomb by pulling
its primer cord, he "pushed her out of the ballroom. Once she was out, he
blew himself up," Muasher said.
He said the Iraqi bombers chose the hotels because they were "easy
targets" _ a reference to lax security that existed before the attacks, but
has since been beefed up at hotels across town, with metal detectors and
policemen.
Muasher added that officials believe the wedding party was targeted
because the bombers wanted to "inflict the biggest number of casualties and
victims."
The Jordanian security official said Radisson was picked because it
was a favorite spot for Israeli tourists.
The bomb strapped to the Radisson bomber's body was packed with the
powerful explosive RDX and ball bearings and was designed to kill as many
people as possible, Muasher said.
Investigations showed that no Jordanians were involved in the actual
attacks, but several Jordanian followers of al-Zarqawi have been arrested,
the deputy premier added.
Al-Qaida in Iraq's operation in Jordan _ its deadliest inside a
neighboring Mideast country _ have raised fears that al-Zarqawi's terror
campaign has gained enough momentum to spread throughout the region.
Jordan's confirmation of the Iraqi link could harm recently warmed
relations, although Muasher ruled that out and insisted that the Iraqi
government and its 400,000-strong exile community in Jordan had no
connection to the blasts.
"It's true that the terrorists are Iraqis, but this doesn't mean
that the Iraqi government is involved or condones such actions," Muasher
said. "We all know that the (Iraqi) government suffers from this group."
Iraq's defense minister also offered Jordan its support in the hotel
bombings probe and warned that unchecked violence in Iraq will spread
terrorism across the region. "We are partners in facing terrorism," Defense
Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi told The AP.
The terrorists' "target is to kill tolerance and destroy coexistence
in Arab and Muslim cities," al-Dulaimi said.
Al-Dulaimi also criticized Syria for letting Islamic extremists
train on its soil and enter Iraq to carry out terrorist attacks. The United
States and Iraq have repeatedly called on Syria to lock down its borders and
stop al-Qaida in Iraq extremists from entering Iraq.