Jordan Times
Monday, June 26, 2006
Rishawi’s belt had technical
flaw — expert
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — An explosives expert, testifying at the State Security Court on Sunday
in the trial of would-be suicide bomber Sajida Rishawi, said she intended to
blow herself up during the Nov. 9 terror attacks but failed.
“The belt did not explode because of a technical failure and not because Rishawi
did not know how to use it,” the prosecution witness told the tribunal.
The expert, who dismantled and examined the belt on Nov. 13, told the court that
the pin to detonate the device had been pulled out.
He explained that a flaw in the device — a gap preventing the striker from
hitting the percussion cap — stopped the belt from exploding.
The witness, who has been a General Intelligence Department (GID) explosives
expert for 10 years, said Rishawi’s belt had the contents of a “full terrorism
explosives device.”
“The belt contained 3.1 kilogrammes of military explosives and four kilogrammes
of ball bearings. The devices in the belt and the energy source — a battery —
were all fit for use,” the witness said.
Rishawi, an Iraqi national, is officially charged with plotting terrorist acts
and possessing explosives with illicit intent in connection with the Nov. 9
triple attacks on three major Amman hotels, which left 60 people dead and around
a 100 injured.
In a televised confession on Nov. 13, the day of her arrest, Rishawi said she
and her Iraqi husband each wore explosives belts and headed to the Radisson SAS
Hotel on Nov. 9.
Her husband blew himself up, as did two other Iraqi men at the Hyatt and Days
Inn Hotels.
The content of Rishawi’s explosives belt matched with samples taken from the
three explosion scenes, the witness told the court during a 100-minute testimony
yesterday.
The late Abu Mussab Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda in Iraq group claimed responsibility for
the attacks. Zarqawi, who was recently killed in a US air strike, and six others
are being tried in absentia on the same charges.
The tribunal adjourned until Sunday, July 9 to hear the last prosecution
witness.