ISIS Demands Prisoner Swap For Japanese Hostage, Who Is Sajida al-Rishawi ?

Sajida al-Rishawi Al Qaeda In Iraq Suicide Bomber 2005

After murdering one Japanese hostage ISIS has dropped their demand for $200 million dollars and are now demanding the release of Sajida Al-Rishawi. Who is she and what is her connections to ISIS?

In November 2005 Al-Rishawi and her husband Ali Hussein Ali Al-Shamari arrived at the Radisson SAS in Amman Jordan. They were both wearing explosive vests and belts packed with ball bearings and other shrapnel. Their target was a wedding parts taking place at the hotel in the Jordanian capital.

When they arrived at their target the husband Ali Hussein noticed his wife was struggling with her detonator. He then shoved her out of the ballroom and went back inside detonating himself and murdering 38 wedding goers. Al-Rishawi failed to detonate her vest and fled along with the other people running from the hotel. She was arrested and sentenced to death after confessing to her part in the attack. She has since retracted her confession and is still detained in Jordan as she is appealing her case.

Her apparent connection to ISIS is from their days as Al Qaeda In Iraq. Her and her husband were dispatched to Jordan by then AQI leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi who originally hailed from Jordan himself. Zarqawi was killed in a 2006 U.S. air strike in Iraq. Since Al Qaeda In Iraq has transformed into what is referred to as the Islamic State today. After the death of two more AQI/ISIS leaders the current leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi would take them helm of the Iraq terrorist organization.

Below is a copy of Al-Rishawi`s original confession:

"On November 5, I accompanied my husband to Jordan with a forged Iraqi passport, under the name of Ali Hussein Ali and Sajida Abdel Qader Latif. We waited and a white car arrived with a driver and a passenger. We rode with them and entered Jordan (from Iraq). My husband arranged our trip from there, I don't know.

"In Jordan, we rented an apartment. He had two explosive belts. He put one on me and wore the other. He taught me how to use it, how to pull the [primer cord] and operate it.

"He said it was to attack hotels in Jordan. We rented a car and entered the hotel on November 9. My husband and I went inside the hotel, he went to one corner and I went to another.

"There was a wedding with children, women and men inside. My husband detonated [his bomb], I tried to explode [my belt] but it wouldn't. People fled and I ran with them."