AMMAN, 16 May 2006 — Jordan reaffirmed yesterday its refusal to receive a political delegation from Hamas before talks are held with security officials over an arms find in the kingdom and alleged plots by the militant group. “The Palestinian government must send a security delegation ... and after that we can begin political contacts,” Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh told a weekly news conference. Jawdeh was responding to remarks Sunday by Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, who refused to dispatch a security team to Jordan.
Meanwhile, a Jordanian man whose wedding was devastated by a suicide bombing last year urged a court yesterday to publicly hang an Iraqi female would-be bomber standing trial for the attacks. “I plead with the court ... to carry out the maximum penalty, death by hanging in public,” said Ashraf Al-Akhrass, his face red and marked with emotion.
Minutes earlier Sajida Al-Rishawi, the sole defendant behind bars who could face the death penalty, denied any wrongdoing and when asked by the president of the court if she was guilty she responded: “No.” Akhrass’ father and father-in-law were among 60 people killed in triple suicide attacks on three Amman hotels on Nov. 9, 2005, which were claimed by the Al-Qaeda group in Iraq of Islamist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. His mother-in-law later died of her injuries.
Rishawi’s court-appointed lawyer Hussein Al-Masri protested Akhrass’ call for a public hanging and told him he was being “emotional” while there was no comment from the court.
