Meet Sajida al Rishwai, the lady ISIS is asking for

The ISIS has made it clear that it will kill two hostages if Sajida al Rishwai is not released. They no longer want money, but want their sister back is what one of the hostages had said in a video that was released by the ISIS.

A pilot from Jordan, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto would be killed if Sajida is not released in the next 24 hours is what the ISIS says.

Who is Sajida al-Rishwai

Sajida is a suicide bomber who along with her husband had bombed the Raddison hotel in Jordan in the year 2005. Both were members of the Al-Qaeda then and were sent on a suicide bombing mission to the hotel.

However only the explosives strapped around her husbands waist went off killing him. The bombs around her failed to explode and she was later arrested.

Following her confession to the police that she and her husband had planned the suicide bombing, she was sentenced to death in Jordon.

A sister for the ISIS

She has been very often been referred to as sister by the ISIS. Even the video messages sent out by the ISIS speaks about her in great appreciation and refers to her as their sister. The question now is how did she become affiliated to the ISIS while in jail. When she was arrested in 2005 there was no ISIS in existence.

Piecing together the dots the investigators have found that she is the sister of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was a member of the Al-Qaeda back in 2005.

However Zarqawi shifted loyalties once Abu- Bakr Al Bhagdadi formed the ISIS. Since then Zarqawi has been affiliated with the ISIS and this release demand has been made by him.

Why the sudden urgency

Sajida was a forgotten face. She was one of the condemned prisoners in a jail at Jordan awaiting her death sentence.
There was a moratorium in Jordan on death sentences which had delayed her execution. However only recently was that moratorium lifted and the Jordan government was readying her execution.

This is probably what led to the capture of the hostages and demanding their release. The Jordan government says it is now seriously considering a prisoner swap.

The demand for women bombers

The ISIS has very often made demands that lady prisoners be released from jail. Previously they had sought the release of Aafia Siddiqui alias Lady Al-Qaeda in exchange for American journalist James Foley.

Siddiqui is serving an 86 year term in a Texas jail for acts of terror. However the refusal to release her led to the killing of the journalist.

The ISIS realizes the importance of female suicide bombers. They are considered to be much more lethal in nature.
Although there is increased scrutiny by security agencies while dealing with terrorism, the female bombers have an edge over their male counterparts. More often than not they tend to get away as the eye of suspicion is lesser on them.