AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Jordan said Wednesday that it had executed two imprisoned jihadists in retaliation for the killing of Jordanian pilot First Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh, who was captured by the Islamic State last December.
A government spokesman confirmed that failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi and another jihadist, Ziad al-Karbouli, were hanged early Wednesday, the day after the release of a video claiming to show the brutal burning to death of al-Kasasbeh.
IS militants captured al-Kasabeh when his plane crashed near Raqqa, Syria, on Dec. 24.
Jordan attempted a prisoner swap last week, offering to release al-Rishawi in exchange for al-Kasabeh. When news of al-Kasasbeh's death broke, Jordanian military spokesman Mamdouh al-Ameri vowed revenge "equal to what happened to Jordan."
Jordanian King Abdullah II, who was in the United States on Tuesday, met with President Barack Obama at the White House.
"Today we stand shoulder to shoulder with the family of the martyr hero Moaz, with our people and our armed forces in this tragedy," Abdullah said in a statement. "At these difficult times it is every Jordanian's duty to stand together in the face of crises and ordeals, which will only make us stronger."
Al-Rishawi was in prison in Jordan for her role in the 2005 bombings of hotels in Ammam, when the suicide bomb attached to her waist failed to detonate. Al-Karbouli was a high-ranking member of al-Qaida in Iraq.
