Death urged for Jordan 'bomber'

The prosecutor said Sajida Rishawi and co-defendants were a "scourge" who sought to spread death and destruction.

Ms Rishawi is accused of trying but failing to blow herself up in one of three hotels targeted in the capital, Amman, on 9 November.

Her Iraqi husband and two other bombers killed 60 people in the attacks.

Shortly after she was arrested days after the blasts, Ms Rishawi, 35, confessed on state television that she tried to carry out an attack on the Radisson SAS hotel.

She later retracted her confession, saying it had been forced out of her, and claimed she had turned back from the hotel after changing her mind.

An explosives expert however told the court in June that Ms Rishawi's trigger mechanism, had jammed, preventing her from blowing herself up.

No emotion

The prosecutor, whose name was withheld by the court, said Ms Rishawi and seven other defendants, deserved to be executed for the attacks.

"This defendant and others like her are a scourge, who seek to spread death and destruction in this country.

"Give them the sentence they deserve, the death penalty"
Jordanian public prosecutor

"The prosecution and Jordanian society at large appeal to your honour to get rid of such elements and give them the sentence they deserve, the death penalty."

Ms Rishawi showed no emotion as the prosecutor addressed the court.

Earlier she had told the court she had "no desire to blow myself up", saying her confession "was extracted under torture".

When questioned by the prosecutor, Ms Rishawi said by "torture" she had meant "shouting".

Responsibility for the attacks, which killed mostly wedding guests, was claimed by al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The group's former leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in June, remains on the charge sheet.

The six other accused are either dead or on the run.