Jordan Sentences Female Would-Be Bomber

Iraqi woman Sajida al-Rishawi, shown here in this file photo from April 24, 2006, was sentenced to death along with six others for their roles in the November 2005 hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan. Al-Rishawi was the only defendant in custody for the sentencing in Jordan. The other six, including another Iraqi woman, remain at large. (AP Photo/Jordan Television, File) (AP)

AMMAN, Jordan -- A court sentenced an Iraqi woman to death Thursday for her role in an al-Qaida-led triple hotel bombing that killed 60 people in Jordan's worst terror attack ever.

Sajida al-Rishawi, 35, was intended to be one of the suicide bombers in the Nov. 9 attack. She entered a hotel ballroom with her husband, both strapped with explosives belts. Her husband set off his own belt, ripping through a wedding party in the room.

Initially, al-Rishawi said in a televised confession that her own belt failed to detonate and she fled. But she later told her trial that she was an unwilling participant in the attacks and never tried to set off the suicide bomb.

Al-Rishawi was one of seven defendants in the case, but the other six were still at large and tried in absentia. Like al-Rishawi, the six were also sentenced to death by hanging. Al-Rishawi is the first woman sentenced to execution in Jordan on terrorism charges.

Jordanians are still reeling from the attacks, the worst terrorist incident in recent memory and widely labeled "Jordan's 9/11." Suicide bombers entered three Amman hotels and set off their blasts nearly simultaneously, killing 60 people _ mainly Jordanian Muslim women and children _ in an attack claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The harsh verdict today sends a clear message to all terror groups: Jordan's stability and security is a red line that can't be crossed," said Mahmoud al-Kharabsheh, a lawmaker who sits on the parliament's Legal Committee.

Ashraf al-Akhras, who was the groom in the stricken wedding party and who lost his father and 16 other family members and in-laws, said, "She got her just punishment, but it won't assuage the fire inside for my great loss."

Al-Rishawi "got what she deserved," said Mahmoud al-Akrabawi, one of the wedding guests who lost his wife and two children.

"I hope the government will allow us to attend her execution and I wish that the rest will be brought to justice," he said.

Al-Rishawi sat silently in the courtroom as the verdict was read. She later told her lawyer she had anticipated receiving the death sentence.

"She told me that she expected either to be sentenced to death, or to be sent back to Iraq," said the lawyer, Hussein al-Masri. He said he planned to appeal the verdict soon.

Jordan executes by hanging after a protracted legal process that includes several appeals, including to the supreme court _ the highest judicial authority. An average of 10 people _ mostly men _ are executed each year for crimes that include terrorism and premeditated murder.