Jordan is ‘reaping the results of backing terror’, says Syrian media

The Islamic State group’s gruesome murder of a captured Jordanian pilot is the consequence of Amman’s support for Syrian rebels, Syrian media said on Wednesday. The commentary in newspapers close to the government echoed longstanding claims by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime that Jordan is backing “terrorists” by supporting rebels. The comments came a day after a video purporting to show Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh being burnt alive in a cage by jihadists from the Islamic State group. Syria’s government deems all those seeking Assad’s ouster “terrorists” and has long accused opposition backers like Jordan, Turkey and Gulf nations of fomenting extremism.

The fire of the terrorist group burned the Jordanian after Amman facilitated […] the entry of thousands of Salafists across its border so they could fight alongside armed groups against the Syrian Arab army.

An article in Syrian daily Al-Watan

Jordan executed two death-row Iraqi jihadists, including a woman, on Wednesday after vowing to avenge the burning alive of one of its fighter pilots by the Islamic State group. Would-be suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi and Al-Qaeda member Ziad al-Karboli were hanged before dawn at a prison south of the capital, the government said. Jordan’s King Abdullah II cut short a visit to Washington after the gruesome video of the airman’s killing emerged, describing al-Kassasbeh as a hero and vowing to take the battle to IS. Egypt-based Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious seat of learning, called for the “killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs” of IS militants, expressing outrage over their “cowardly act”.

Middle East Jordan