Thursday, June 8, 2017

Jordanian Harbor

"US unseals charge against Jordanian woman in 2001 Jerusalem Sbarro bombing" by Spencer S. Hsu The Washington Post News Service  March 16, 2017

WASHINGTON — US authorities have added a Jordanian woman to the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists and unsealed charges against her in a 2001 suicide bombing attack at a crowded Jerusalem pizzeria that killed 15 people, including two Americans.

An American official indicated that the Justice Department on Tuesday unsealed a July 2013 complaint against Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi because law enforcement officials no longer thought that keeping it secret would aid US efforts to obtain her custody.

Tamimi pleaded guilty in Israel in 2003 and was sentenced to 16 life terms for assisting the bomber in the Aug. 9, 2001, attack on a Sbarro restaurant, according to charging documents.

Among the 15 dead were a pregnant American, Judith Shoshana Greenbaum, 31, and US citizen Malka Roth, 15. Four US citizens were among more than 120 injured.

A former student working part time as a television journalist, Tamimi met with and drove the bomber to the target after pledging to carry out attacks on behalf of the military wing of the Palestinian organization Hamas, according to an FBI affidavit included with the complaint.

She served eight years before being released in October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, and returned to Jordan, which forbids extradition of its nationals, Justice Department officials said.

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Related: Jihad in Jordan?