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Woman bomber makes confession
Yahoo/Reuters ^ | 11/13/2005 | Suleiman al-Khalidi

Posted on 11/13/2005 9:38:07 AM PST by 1066AD

Back to Story - Help Woman bomber makes confession By Suleiman al-Khalidi 12 minutes ago

An Iraqi woman in Jordanian custody said in a televised confession on Sunday she had tried to blow herself up alongside her husband in an Amman hotel last week, one of three attacks that killed more than 50 people.

"We went into the hotel. He (my husband) took a corner and I took another. There was a wedding in the hotel. There were women and children," the woman, who police identified as Sajida al-Rishawi, said on Jordan's state-run television.

"My husband executed the attack. I tried to detonate and it failed. People started running and I ran with them," Rishawi, wearing a white headscarf, black gown and what looked like a bomb strapped to her body said during a brief recorded television appearance.

Three suicide bombers belonging to al Qaeda in Iraq killed more than 50 people at three luxury Amman hotels on Wednesday, in one of Jordan's worst attacks.

Officials said Rishawi's husband was a bomber who died in one of three simultaneous attacks at the Hyatt, Radisson and Days Inn hotels.

It was not clear under which circumstances Rishawi gave her confession. She spoke with an Iraqi accent and said she came from the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

International human rights groups say Jordanian police extract confessions from detainees under duress, but the woman spoke calmly. At one point she was shown standing up and modeling with what looked like a bomb strapped to her body.

Officials said Rishawi is the sister of Samir Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, a now-dead former senior aide to Jordanian-born al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement that a married couple and two other men -- all Iraqis -- had carried out the bombings at hotels frequented by Western security contractors who operate out of Iraq and by diplomats.

Most of those who died were Jordanians attending weddings.

Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan al-Muasher told reporters all four bombers were from Iraq's western desert province of Anbar, a Sunni guerrilla stronghold bordering Jordan. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province.

He said the attackers entered Jordan four days before the blasts, rented an apartment at a middle-class neighborhood in Amman and used suicide belts packed with 5-10 kg (11-22 lbs) of explosives.

Muasher named the three dead bombers as Safar Mohammed Ali, Rawad Jasim Mohammed Abid and Rishawi's husband as Ali Hussein al-Shimeri. He played down any Jordanian involvement.

ANTI-TERROR LEGISLATION

Hundreds of anti-riot police beefed up security at hotels and shopping malls across Amman. Interior Minister Awni Yarfas said the government would tighten anti-terrorist laws.

"We are speeding up passing an anti-terror law soon to indict anyone who supports terror either through advocacy and incitement either by word or action," he told Reuters.

Jordan, a close U.S. ally and one of two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, had previously been spared al Qaeda-linked attacks that have hit other countries.

But authorities had warned that Zarqawi, who has a $25 million bounty on his head, had sent jihadists to strike targets outside Iraq, including Jordan.

Jordan is home to a large exiled Iraqi community, many of whom fled the war and its aftermath to settle here, creating a real estate boom that has boosted Jordan's aid-dependant economy. It is also a hub for Iraq's reconstruction efforts.

But Amman's support for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has angered some Jordanians, many of whom are of Palestinian origin and are against U.S. policies in the region.

The blasts have sparked outrage in this small kingdom of about five million people. A few thousand people held a candle-light vigil outside the Hyatt on Saturday and chanted support for the King.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is touring the Middle East and Asia, was expected to make a previously unscheduled stopover in Jordan on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Ibon Villelabeitia and Dina Wakeel)


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: femalebombers; iraq; iraqiwomen; jordan; michaelmoore; muslimwomen; wot
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To: Dick Vomer
it looks like a "professional" belt to me. explosive, package, det cord and trigger....yep, that about covers it.

....well, what do I know? I never tried to make one. LOL

41 posted on 11/13/2005 10:20:47 AM PST by SweetCaroline (PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS IN CA JUST ABORTED THEIR FAMILY!!!)
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To: 1066AD
"We are speeding up passing an anti-terror law soon to indict anyone who supports terror either through advocacy and incitement either by word or action," he told Reuters.

So, when are they going to start rounding up Reuters journalists?

42 posted on 11/13/2005 10:22:15 AM PST by Polybius
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To: 1066AD

At the risk of being morbid, when you blow yourself up with that much explosives, etc., and I know this sounds like a stupid question, but how do you die and how quickly? Do you feel anything or is it so quick that you don't even realize it? Is there a micro second of pain before you lose consciousness?

What do these people think they are accomplishing?


43 posted on 11/13/2005 10:22:33 AM PST by garyhope
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To: Montfort

What it is is "damaging one's Self Esteem."


44 posted on 11/13/2005 10:23:55 AM PST by arthurus (Better to fight them over THERE than over HERE.)
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To: Sir Gawain

No. The contract says "72 virgins" and they therefore must be literally virgins. Analogues and substitutes do not satisfy the terms of the contract.


45 posted on 11/13/2005 10:25:35 AM PST by arthurus (Better to fight them over THERE than over HERE.)
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To: OpusatFR

Eye for an eye punishment. Blow them up too.


46 posted on 11/13/2005 10:32:10 AM PST by skimask (Whatever happens it's Bush or Roves' fault.)
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To: garyhope
At the risk of being morbid, when you blow yourself up with that much explosives, etc., and I know this sounds like a stupid question, but how do you die and how quickly?

Excellent question. You should apply for a research grant. Plenty of lab rats in Gitmo.

47 posted on 11/13/2005 10:37:32 AM PST by wyattearp (The best weapon to have in a gunfight is a shotgun - preferably from ambush.)
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To: garyhope
At the risk of being morbid, when you blow yourself up with that much explosives, etc., and I know this sounds like a stupid question, but how do you die and how quickly? Do you feel anything or is it so quick that you don't even realize it? Is there a micro second of pain before you lose consciousness?

I can't speak to that precisely, but one AQIZ member wearing a suicide vest left little more than a bloody smear on the walls when we went to go get him. I can't imagine he felt more than the briefest pain, although I for that quarter-second I'm sure it was pretty intense. I've been on the right side of a wall when a grenade went off on the left side. I have no doubt that if that wall were not there, it wouldn't have been a painless way to go, regardless of how quick it would be over. I doubt it's any different for a terrorist in a suicide vest.

They also have a lot of work related injuries. Most bombmakers in Iraq do not have the full compiment of fingers anymore, and several are missing eyes or arms or are otherwise disfigured. Also, the people emplacing IEDs are often the lower ranking members of the cell, and they regularly suffer catastrophic (and fatal) accidents while laying the trap. There have been a few vests and even vehicles that have failed to operate correctly, and left the operator alive but badly wounded.

48 posted on 11/13/2005 10:42:03 AM PST by Steel Wolf (* No sleep till Baghdad! *)
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To: wyattearp

Gee, thanks, but no thanks.


49 posted on 11/13/2005 10:47:26 AM PST by garyhope (.)
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To: 1066AD

Someone should ask her how she feels about hubby now boinkin' the 72 virgins.


50 posted on 11/13/2005 10:53:56 AM PST by jslade
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To: garyhope
"At the risk of being morbid..."

I think they feel zero. Like a suicide person who puts a shotgun in their mouth. I read an interview with a young Palestinian female who told how she was counseled before the mission she was slated for. She said when she mentioned being blown to literal bits her instructor said, "Don't think about it." Obviously for some reason she did not go through with it and was interviewed. I bet she didn't last long if the authorities set her free.
51 posted on 11/13/2005 10:54:51 AM PST by A knight without armor
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To: 1066AD

They ought to take her and her bomb and give her her wish in an open stretch of sand with pigs near to finish off her remains.


52 posted on 11/13/2005 10:56:13 AM PST by TASMANIANRED (Conservatives are from earth. Liberals are from Uranus.)
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Comment #53 Removed by Moderator

To: garyhope
At the risk of being morbid, when you blow yourself up with that much explosives, etc., and I know this sounds like a stupid question, but how do you die and how quickly?

Well what little I know is this; the shock wave generated by an explosive travels a lot faster than a nerve impulse.

Also when the Israelis are looking for the body of a suicide bomber they look for a headless body. The bomber is most frequently decapitated.

The bomber is decapitated by the explosion long before he could feel any pain. The cowards.

54 posted on 11/13/2005 11:31:19 AM PST by Pontiac (Ignorance of the law is no excuse, ignorance of your rights can be fatal.)
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To: 1066AD
This Islamic terrorist will murder no more.

A video grab image shows Sajida al-Rishawi, who confessed on Jordanian TV to trying to blow herself up at a hotel in Amman, showing how she strapped a device to her body, November 13th, 2005. REUTERS/Jordan TV

55 posted on 11/13/2005 11:37:51 AM PST by M. Espinola (Freedom is never free)
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To: 68skylark

"So you feel that any "physical discomfort" (like high or low air conditioning) equals torture? Well, bless you for being concerned about the morality of how we treat terrorists. You sound like a kind person. But I think your standards are a little out of touch with how the world works."

Considering I'm writing this sitting in a military station now with the heat on either too high or too low, I don't think it's torture. You, sir, have read too much into my words. I do not advocate going out of our way to make prisoners undergoing interrogation uncomfortable physically; in fact, I believe they should be made comfortable, but bored to the point of tears, for it is the mental state of the prisoner I want to alter. I want that prisoner ready to talk, if only to alleviate boredom. I want him or her to look forward to that interrogation session as the highlight of his or her day. I don't want them focused on cold, or heat, or the fear of being beaten. In this bland sameness comes a willingness to talk.

I have had training in military intelligence and military law. Perhaps you mistook my theological bent as being soft on terrorism. If so, you are sadly mistaken. However, I believe in being effective, and I have found that torture doesn't work, and discomfort only strengthens the soul.


56 posted on 11/13/2005 11:42:43 AM PST by GAB-1955
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To: marktwain
I believe that we should do all we can to support failed suicide bombers and to try to rehabilitate them.

What?????

57 posted on 11/13/2005 11:57:12 AM PST by Osage Orange (I'd like to buy Bill Clinton for what he's worth, and sell him for what he thinks he'll bring.)
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To: Osage Orange
I believe that we should do all we can to support failed suicide bombers and to try to rehabilitate them.

"What?????"

One of the most effective tactics in the war in Iraq has been to take captured terrorists and have them confess publicly about how they were used by their masters to commit crimes and kill innocent Iraqis.

By "rehabilitate" I mean that they should be "turned" in an intell sense, and become assets of our side to use against their former masters.

Consider how much we gain if one suicide bomber has second thoughts about committing suicide and murder, hesitates, and is captured. If we can "turn" them, we offer doubt to others who may learn of them. We offer hope to those who are coerced into the service of our enemies, and we discredit the entire philosophy and premise of Al Queda.

In a practical sense, creating doubt in the suicide bombers may well mean dozens of lives saved for each bomber that does not complete their mission.

We need to offer them, the ones who fail, more than a quick trip to the cemetery.

Women suicide bombers seem more easily "turned" than young men. I think our efforts could be especially fruitful there.

The capture of this woman should be used to our best advantage, not for some cheap and transient vengence.

58 posted on 11/13/2005 12:10:42 PM PST by marktwain
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To: GAB-1955
Sorry if I read too much into your comment -- my mistake. I'm probably too quick to get defensive on this topic.

After all, you did advocate hanging for this would-be murderer. I think it's nice we can come together to find common ground on this topic!

59 posted on 11/13/2005 12:11:07 PM PST by 68skylark
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To: marktwain
We need to offer them, the ones who fail, more than a quick trip to the cemetery.

This is the only comment that I agree with. All intel should be extracted within hours and days. As to how long it takes for the execution, it should NOT be quick and merciful. It should take months, and be quite merciless. The family of the convicted should attend. Especially the children. Young minds are so impressionable, and behavior is instilled at an early age. It takes a village and all that.

60 posted on 11/13/2005 12:20:05 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (Proud to be named as a member of the Radical Right Wing. Vast Right Wing got old.)
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