Update: Jordan executes al-Qaida prisoners in wake of pilot's death

Jordan has executed Sajida al-Rishawi, the female suicide bomber asked for by the Islamic State (IS) in a previous proposal to swap prisoners, the state-run Petra news agency reported Wednesday.

Another al-Qaida prisoner, Ziad al-Karbouly, was also hanged to death on the same day, according to the report.

The news came a day after IS claimed that it has burnt a captured Jordanian pilot, Muazth al-Kassasbeh, to death in the third high-profile case of hostage-killing by the group recently.

The 26-year-old pilot was one of pilots of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, which comprises of several Arab forces, including Jordan.

He was captured after his plane crashed late last year in Syria's northern province of al-Raqqa.

The killing of the pilot has immediately drawn condemnations from countries in the region.

Syria's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned the execution of the Jordanian pilot Muazth al-Kassasbeh.

The ministry branded the incident as a "heinous crime," urging the Jordanian authorities for cooperation in fighting the terrorist groups, such as the IS or the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

In Iraq, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on his official twitter account that "I strongly condemn the barbaric murder of Jordanian pilot Muazth al-Kassasbeh.".

He said that the brutal killing of al-Kaseasbeh would "only strengthen our shared resolve to defeating Daesh (the first Arabic letters of the IS extremist group)."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday also condemned what it called the "savage" murder of the Jordanian pilot by the IS group.

The murder of the pilot was an inhuman act which did not abide by any Islamic codes, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.

Afkham expressed sympathy with the family of the murdered pilot as well as the Jordanian government and nation.

In Turkey, a written statement by Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that "We have learned with great sadness that lieutenant pilot Muazth al-Kassasbeh was murdered by terrorist organization Daesh (IS)."

"We condemn vehemently this felonious action which does not comply with any humanitarian value," the ministry said.

Ankara vowed full support in fight against terror with Jordan and the international community.

After the murder of the pilot by the IS, King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday called for unity in an address broadcast by the Jordan TV.

"We received with great sadness and anger the news about the killing of the pilot on the hands of the stray criminals of IS who has nothing to do with Islam," he said.

The king said the pilot "dies defending his religion, country and nation," adding that "it is the duty of all to be united at this difficult times, which will only make us stronger."

Relatives of Jordanian pilot expressed their anger over killing him alive. They said he is a martyr and a national hero.

Both of the previous two victims captured by the IS in Syria were Japanese nationals.

After the execution of a Japanese contractor, the IS briefly proposed to exchange the Jordanian pilot and a Japanese freelance reporter with the woman fighter, who was jailed by the Jordanian authorities for her role in a 2005 attack that killed 60 in Amman. Endit