Suicide bomber wanted in IS, Jordan prisoner swap enters Syria

A suicide bomber, whom the Islamic State (IS) militant group wants in a prisoner swap with Jordan, entered the Syrian territories on Wednesday evening, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.

The report said the IS will exchange the Japanese hostage with Sajida al-Rishawi in the al-Shadadeh area in Syria's northern province of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS group, without spelling further details amid absence of Syrian official comments.

Reports said the IS wanted the Iraqi suicide bomber to be released from Jordanian prison in exchange for the release of the captured Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, and the Japanese journalist, Kenji Goto Jogo.

Al-Rishawi is an alleged attempted suicide bomber, who is believed to have taken part in the Amman bombings on Nov. 9, 2005 in Jordan but survived when her explosive belt failed to detonate.

She was later captured by Jordanian authorities and sentenced to death by a Jordanian military court on Sept. 21, 2006. Al-Rishawi has appealed against this conviction twice since 2007.

Earlier in the day, Jordan's state-run television cited Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Momani as stating that Jordan would release al-Rishawi, if the IS released al-Kassasbeh, the pilot, without mentioning the captured Japanese hostage.

The remarks came after the IS posted an online video footage a day earlier, threatening to kill al-Kassasbeh and Goto within 24 hours if Jordan did not release al-Rishawi. Endit