Iraqi woman confesses to Jordan blasts

Jordanian students wave national flags and pictures of King Abdullah II during a rally at the Jordanian University in solidarity with the King and the government yesterday. The speedy arrest and televised confession of an alleged would-be Iraqi suicide bomber has bolstered the image of Jordan's intelligence services but risks stoking tension with Iraqi expatriates, officials said Monday.

The woman, identified by police as Sajida al-Rishawi, appeared in a headscarf and a long black coat describing her attempts to detonate an explosives-laden belt at a wedding celebration in the Radisson hotel.

"We went into the hotel. He (my husband) took a corner and I took another. There was a wedding in the hotel. There were women and children," Rishawi told state-run television.

"My husband executed the attack. I tried to detonate and it failed. People started running and I ran with them."

The television show included other pictures which appeared to show Rishawi operating a mechanism covered in plastic and wearing explosives with a red wire strapped to her body.

Rishawi's husband and two other suicide bombers belonging to al Qaeda in Iraq killed themselves and 54 other people in three simultaneous attacks at the Hyatt, Radisson and Days Inn hotels.

It was not clear under what circumstances Rishawi gave her confession. She spoke with an Iraqi accent and said she came from the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

International human rights groups say Jordanian police extract confessions from detainees under duress, but the woman spoke calmly.

Officials said Rishawi is the sister of Samir Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, a dead former aide to Jordanian-born al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement that a married couple and two other men -- all Iraqis -- had carried out the bombings at hotels frequented by Western security contractors who operate out of Iraq and by diplomats.

Most of those who died were Jordanians attending weddings.

Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan al-Muasher told reporters all four bombers were from Iraq's western desert province of Anbar, a Sunni guerrilla stronghold bordering Jordan. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province.