Amman : Jordanian authorities executed terrorists Sajidah al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouly at dawn Wednesday, a day after the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group released a video showing Jordanian air force pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh being burned alive, security sources told Efe news agency.
The execution of al-Rishawi and al-Karbouli, both convicted terrorists, took place at Suwaqa prison, 43 miles south of the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Al-Rishawi was sentenced to death for her role in the 2005 bombings of three Jordanian five star hotels, resulting in the deaths of at least 60 people and injuries to more than 200.
Her explosives belt failed to detonate and she was arrested after the bombings in which her husband took part and was killed when he detonated the explosives he was carrying.
Al-Karbouly, a former aide to Al Qaeda terrorist organisation leader Abu Musab al-Zarkawi who died during a US raid in Iraq in 2006, was sentenced to death on charges of killing a Jordanian driver in Iraq.
Al-Kassasbeh, 26, was captured by the IS in December when his fighter plane crashed while taking part in US-led coalition airstrikes against the jihadis in Syria.
The pilot’s father has demanded a harsh and swift revenge for his son’s murder from Jordan.
Safi al-Kassasbeh said that the execution of two Al Qaeda linked prisoners that followed his son’s deaths was not sufficient, Al Jazeera reported.
“I demand none of them amongst us be kept alive. I demand the revenge be greater than executing prisoners. I demand the IS organisation be annihilated,” Safi al-Kassasbeh said.
“This murderous organisation, made up of militants from all the world countries, is acting in barbaric ways, violating all the international laws, codes of ethics, and prisoners’ conventions. That is why I strongly demand the government to swiftly take revenge for the blood of Moaz and the dignity of our country.”
The killing of the pilot has also immediately drawn condemnation from countries in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.
Syria’s foreign ministry Wednesday condemned the execution of al-Kassasbeh.
The ministry branded the incident as a “heinous crime,” urging the Jordanian authorities for cooperation in fighting the terrorist groups such as the IS or the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on his official Twitter account that “I strongly condemn the barbaric murder of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh”.
He said that the brutal killing of al-Kassasbeh would “only strengthen our shared resolve to defeating Daesh (the first Arabic letters of the IS)”.
Iran’s foreign ministry Wednesday also condemned what it called the “savage” murder of the Jordanian pilot by the IS group.
The murder of the pilot was an inhuman act which did not abide by any Islamic codes, Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.
Afkham expressed sympathy with the family of the murdered pilot as well as the Jordanian government and nation.
In Turkey, a written statement by the country’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that “We have learned with great sadness that lieutenant pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh was murdered by the terrorist organisation Daesh”.
“We condemn vehemently this felonious action which does not comply with any humanitarian value,” the ministry said.
Turkey vowed full support in the fight against terror with Jordan and the international community.
After the murder of the pilot by the IS, King Abdullah II of Jordan Tuesday called for unity in an address broadcast by Jordan TV.
“We received with great sadness and anger the news about the killing of the pilot on the hands of the stray criminals of IS who has nothing to do with Islam,” he said.
The king said the pilot “dies defending his religion, country and nation,” adding that “it is the duty of all to be united at this difficult times, which will only make us stronger”.
Relatives of the Jordanian pilot expressed their anger over his killing. They said he was a martyr and a national hero.