Amman Suicide Bomber's Wife Arrested

(Amman, Jordan) Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister Marwan al-Muasher announced that a woman, Sajida Mubarak al-Rishai, who failed to blow herself up during last Wednesday's hotel bombings in Amman, has been arrested.

From Albawaba.com:

"I just heard from our intelligence services that there is a fourth bomber, a woman, who failed to blow herself up and she's in custody," he [al-Muasher] told a group of media representatives in the Jordanian capital.

Al-Muasher added the woman would appear tonight on Jordanian television to explain details of the operation. He also showed pictures of the explosives belt worn by her. It should be noted that the woman's husband blew himself up in Amman's Radisson SAS hotel.

Sajida Mubarak al-Rishai, 35, is said to be the sister of Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, a Zarqawi lieutenant who was killed by US forces in Falluja.

In a related report from Aljazeera.com, the four Amman hotel attackers were identified.

An armed group in Iraq posted a statement on a notorious website naming the four people who carried out the bombings, including a husband and wife.

The names of the four, according to the statement, were Abu Khabib, Abu Muaz, Abu Omaira and Om Omaira.

The validity of the Aljazeera information appears to be in conflict with this BBC report:

The three Iraqi bombers, who died in the attacks, were identified as Ali Hussein Ali al-Shamari, from Anbar province, Rawad Jassem Mohammed Abed, 23, and Safaa Mohammed Ali, 23.

The 'notorious website' statement also conflicts with this Reuters report:

All four bombers were from Iraq's western desert province of Anbar, bordering Jordan, he said adding they had avoided contact with Jordanians apparently in an effort to avoid Jordanian security forces which have foiled previous attacks.

Muasher named the three dead men as 23-year-olds Safar Mohammed Ali and Rawad Jasim Mohammed Abid and Ali Hussein al-Shimeri, who was born in 1970 and so probably aged 25.

Shimeri's wife is the same age, he said, naming her as Sajida al-Rishawi, the sister of Samir Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi. Rishawi, he said, was one of Zarqawi's lieutenants and was killed at Falluja, in western Iraq.

Evidently, the 'notorious website' statement is either erroneous or aliases are used.

In summary, four Iraqis went to Amman on suicide missions and one survived, a woman. She was arrested and will appear on television tonight to explain the operation. In a way, I can understand why she would be forthcoming. Her husband and her brother are dead and, at best, she's going to prison. What does she have left to lose?

Companion post at In The Bullpen.