Failed woman suicide bomber faces death by hanging over blasts

Amman: Seven people were sentenced to death yesterday for triple hotel bombings that killed 60 people in Jordan's capital last November.

The only one in custody was a 35-year-old Iraqi woman, Sajida Al Rishawi, who confessed on Jordanian television shortly after the blasts that she intended to carry out a suicide attack on one of the hotels.

Six others, including another Iraqi woman, were sentenced in absentia and remain at large. They are believed to be hiding in Iraq.

The late Al Qaida leader in Iraq, Jordanian-born Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, had claimed responsibility for the attacks. He was also tried as a fugitive, but the Jordanian military court dismissed his case after his death in a US airstrike north of Baghdad in June.

The court said Sajida and the other six were found guilty "beyond doubt" in Jordan's deadliest terror attack in recent history and would hang. During the 10-minute hearing yesterday, Sajida sat on the floor of a small fenced-in dock, her head resting to the side on her shoulder. She appeared emotionless as she watched the three-judge panel.

Sajida's lawyer, Hussain Al Masri, said: "She told me that she expected either to be sentenced to death, or to be sent back to Iraq." He planned to file an appeal soon.