Jordan executes two prisoners after ISIS burns pilot
prisoners early Wednesday after a new video
surfaced on the Internet Tuesday showing ISIS
burning alive a Jordanian pilot the terror group
had held since December.
Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani
said that prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad
al-Karbouli were executed. Al-Rishawi has been
on death row for her role in a triple hotel
bombing in the Jordanian capital Amman in
2005 that killed dozens. Over the past week,
Jordan had twice offered to swap her for the
pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. However, officials
have said his captors did not deliver proof he
was still alive, and the swap never moved
forward.
The 44-year-old Iraqi woman's suicide belt did
not detonate at the time of the Amman attack
and she fled the scene, but was quickly
arrested. After a televised confession, she
recanted, but her appeal was turned down.
Al-Rishawi had family ties to the Iraqi branch of
Al Qaeda, a precursor of ISIS. Ziad Al-Karbuli
was a former aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
the Jordanian Al Qaeda operative who was
killed in 2006.
The 22-minute video, which Jordan said is
authentic, brought a grisly end to speculation
into the fate of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, 26,
who was captured when his plane crashed
during a bombing mission in Syria Dec. 24. The
video, which reports said could have been made
more than a month ago, shows the pilot
standing in a cage with a line of fuel leading to
him, which is then ignited, causing him to burst
into flames. Islamic State had previously sought
to trade Al-Kaseasbeh for Sajida al-Rishawi, an
Iraqi woman who is in a Jordanian prison for
her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that
killed 60 people in Amman.
WARNING, EXTREMELY GRAPHIC VIDEO:
Jordanian pilot burned alive by ISIS
"It's just one more indication of the viciousness
and barbarity of this organization," said
President Obama, who met Tuesday evening
with Jordan's King Abdullah in the Oval Office,
where he offered his condolences. "And I think it
will redouble the vigilance and determination on
the part of the global coalition to make sure
that they are degraded and ultimately defeated.”
In a statement before his meeting with Abdullah,
Obama vowed the pilot's death would "redouble
the vigilance and determination on the part of
our global coalition to make sure they are
degraded and ultimately defeated."
"Lieutenant Al-Kaseasbeh's dedication, courage
and service to his country and family represent
universal human values that stand in opposition
to the cowardice and depravity of ISIL, which
has been so broadly rejected around the globe,"
Obama said.
"This horrific, savage killing is yet
another example of ISIL's contempt for
life itself."
- Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
Dubai-based TV news channel Al Arabiya
reported that the Jordanian military had notified
al-Kaseasbeh's family that he had been killed
and Jordanian TV reported that the pilot was
killed Jan. 3.
In the video, viewed by Fox News, Al-
Kaseasbeh, clad in an orange jumpsuit, speaks
under clear duress. A narrator speaking in Arabic
blasts Arab nations, including Jordan, for taking
part in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State.
The final five minutes of the video show the
caged pilot, his clothing apparently doused in
gasoline as the fuel is lit. His screams are
audible as he collapses to his knees. After being
killed, the burned man and the cage are buried
by a bulldozer. The video ends with ISIS offering
"100 golden Dinars" for any Muslims in Jordan
who kill other Jordanian pilots, whose names,
pictures and hometowns are shown.
U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman
Bernadette Meehan said administration officials
are examining the video.
"We are aware of the video purporting to show
that [al-Kaseasbeh] has been murdered by the
terrorist group ISIL," read Meehan's statement.
"The intelligence community is working to
confirm its authenticity. The United States
strongly condemns ISIL’s actions and we call for
the immediate release of all those held captive
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