News Digest

Jordan executes two al-Qaeda prisoners after ISIS killing of pilot

Jordan executed two al Qaeda prisoners before dawn Wednesday, a government spokesman said, just hours after Islamic State militants released a video purportedly showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive in a cage. Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani identified the two prisoners executed by hanging early Wednesday as Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouly. Over the past week, Jordan had offered to trade al-Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber, for the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kasaesbeh, but froze any swap after saying it had received no proof that the pilot was still alive. Al-Rishawi had been sentenced to death after her 2005 role in a triple hotel bombing in Amman that killed 60 people. Al-Karbouly was sent to death row in 2008 for plotting terror attacks on Jordanians in Iraq.

The Jordanians’ response to the brutal murder of their pilot is going to be strong and forceful, and the Jordanian response will be to be more engaged, not less engaged. The King feels that the gloves are off.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who was among a group of lawmakers who met with the King of Jordan

Meanwhile, U.S. officials said the execution of the pilot is likely to harden Jordan’s position as a member of the U.S.-led coalition striking IS in Syria. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jordan has not retreated from the air campaign against the Islamic State since the group captured al-Kasaesbeh after his jet crashed in northeastern Syria in December. One official said he expected al-Kasaesbeh’s killing “to have an electrifying effect” on Jordan. But the campaign also poses risks for Jordan, where there are pockets of support for ISt and which has played down its military role in a neighboring Arab country. Former State Department counter-terrorism chief Daniel Benjamin said Islamic State’s use of extreme brutality is aimed more at attracting recruits - where it has seen some success -than splitting the coalition.

Ultimately, though, the atrocities and the misgovernance of those under ISIS rule will turn the broader Muslim population more forcefully against it and strengthen the resolve of coalition members.

Former State Department counter-terrorism chief Daniel Benjamin