Free Republic

AMMAN, Jordan — Just after nightfall Feb. 3, a warrant arrived at the city’s main women’s prison for the execution of Sajida al-Rishawi. The instructions had come from King Abdullah II himself, then in Washington on a state visit, and were transmitted from his private plane to the royal court in Jordan’s capital. A clerk relayed the message to the Interior Ministry and then to the prisons department, where it caused a stir. State executions are complicated affairs requiring many steps, yet the king’s wishes were explicit: The woman would face the gallows before the sun rose the next day.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Saturday it has found "no evidence of a wedding" at the site of an airstrike last week near the Syrian border, and said evidence so far suggested the target was a desert base for foreign terrorists sneaking into Iraq. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy chief of staff for operations, showed slides of military binoculars, guns and battery packs that could be used to trigger roadside bombs found by U.S. troops at the site. He said "terrorist manuals," telephone numbers for Afghanistan and foreign passports, including one Sudanese, were also recovered there. Survivors...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. commander has arrived in Afghanistan ( news - web sites) to head an investigation into the bombing of a wedding party, a deadly raid that has strained ties between Washington and Kabul. Brigadier General Anthony F. Przybyslawski of the U.S. Air Force will preside over the so-called Des Rawud Investigation Board, a team of 11 experts specializing in aviation, medicine, law and public affairs. The Afghan government says 48 people were killed and 117 wounded when U.S. aircraft fired on a wedding party in Des Rawud, in central Uruzgan province on July...