Name of hotel bomber matches that of man U.S. arrested, released

The woman who confessed being part of the plot could face the death penalty.
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- The U.S. military announced Monday it arrested and later released an Iraqi whose name matches that of one of the Amman hotel suicide bombers, saying there was no "compelling evidence" that he posed a security threat.
The American military command could not confirm whether the man it arrested last year, identified as Safaa Mohammed Ali, was among the three Al-Qaida in Iraq militants who carried out the attacks Wednesday on the Radisson SAS, Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels. The blasts killed 57 other people.
The statement came as Jordanians -- from the groom whose bombed wedding turned into a nightmare to local shopkeepers -- voiced anger and joy at the capture and riveting televised confession of a would-be fourth Iraqi bomber, wife of one of the suicide attackers.
Many even doubted Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, 35, had anything to do with bombing the Radisson wedding party, saying her version of events contradicted accounts given by Jordanian authorities.
Officials offer condolences
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Jordan's King Abdullah to offer condolences over the attacks, which killed three Americans.
"There is no justification for the wanton killing of innocents, and we stand in solidarity with the people of Jordan, the people around the world who have suffered similar tragedies, and we will stand firm," Rice said during a tour of the Radisson.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also visited the Radisson, where he said the suicide bombers "deserve all of God's wrath."
The questioning of al-Rishawi was going slowly, apparently because she was suffering from the shock of the attacks and her arrest, a security official said.
But police believe al-Rishawi, from the volatile western Iraqi city of Ramadi, may provide vital clues to Al-Qaida in Iraq and possibly the whereabouts of its fugitive Jordanian-born leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
No motive determined
Jordanian officials say al-Rishawi has provided no motive for her involvement. She said in her televised confession that her husband brought her to Jordan and equipped her with a 22-pound explosives belt.
Al-Rishawi could face the death penalty if convicted of conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack that killed people and possessing explosives with the aim of using them illegally, according to a senior security official close to the interrogation.
Intelligence officers will question her for about a month before sending the case to the military prosecutor, who will interrogate her from two to four weeks, said the official, who declined to be identified further because of the case's sensitivity.
Authorities believe more people helped arrange the attacks, but it was unclear if they were among 12 suspects under arrest.
About woman's family
Details have emerged about al-Rishawi's family, including her late brother, Thamer, who was a wanted Al-Qaida member in Iraq, and their escape to the one-time insurgent safe haven of Fallujah to avoid being captured by the U.S. military.
Thamer al-Rishawi was killed during a U.S. assault on Fallujah in April 2004, when an air-to-ground missile hit his pickup as he was driving wounded people to a hospital, according to Ramadi residents speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from militants.
The family stayed in Fallujah until shortly before U.S. troops overran the city in November 2004. During this time, the military rounded up hundreds of Iraqis, including a man identified as Safaa Mohammed Ali.
Ali was detained locally and was released after two weeks because there was no "compelling evidence to continue to hold him" as a threat to Iraq's security, said the U.S. command in Baghdad.
The military said it did not know whether this man was the same Safaa Mohammed Ali who Jordanian authorities say drove with the three other Iraqis into Jordan on Nov. 5. Four days later, they attacked the hotels.
The U.S. detention of thousands of Iraqis has been cited -- especially by members of the Sunni Arab minority that fuels the insurgency -- as a major motivation for the violent campaign.
Jordan identified the hotel bombers as Ali, 23; al-Rishawi's husband, Ali Hussein Ali al-Shamari, 35; and Rawad Jassem Mohammed, 23.
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