Following massive media outrage centering strange silence of the Jordanian authorities in extraditing Hamas terrorist Ahlam Tamimi to the United States, who currently is on FBI’s list of ‘Most Wanted’ fugitives, authorities in Amman currently are looking for ways to getting rid of this matter, while some of the key policymakers want Ahlam Tamimi to be deported to a third country instead of extraditing her to the US. Earlier it was also reported in the media that King Abdullah of Jordan has sheltered Iraqi deposed dictator Saddam Hussain’s daughter Saghad Hussain, who, sitting in Jordan has been funding Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists. It was also alleged that members of the Jordanian royal family are having secret business relations with Raghad Hussain, while several properties in the Western countries have been purchased by the members of the royal family with Raghad’s money.
Jordanian king Abdullah’s half-sister Princess Haya bint Hussein, who currently lives in the United Kingdom is also reportedly investing large amount of Raghad Hussain’s money, where her full-brother Prince Ali is a partner.
Ahlam Tamimi, a nefarious jihadist murderer
Ahlam Ahmad al-Tamimi, a Hamas terrorist is now a Jordanian citizen, who is known for playing key role in carrying out the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing in Jerusalem, in 2001. She was convicted by an Israeli military tribunal and received multiple life sentences, but was released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. In Jordan, in addition to receiving almost VIP treatment, Tamimi is running vile propaganda against Israel and Jews by sitting in the Hashemites Kingdom.
Prior to abetting the gruesome terrorist attack in Tel Aviv’s Sbarro restaurant, Ahlam Tamimi was involved in several terrorist attacks in Israel, including one in July 2001, when she placed an explosive device at a grocery store in Jerusalem, which exploded, but did not cause damage.
According to media reports, Alham Tamimi helped plan and participated in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing, which caused 145 casualties, including 15 fatalities, half of them children. She was 20 years old at the time, and still in university. After driving and dropping off the suicide bomber at his target, she reported on the bombing on a Palestinian news channel.
On August 9 2001, Tamimi escorted suicide bomber Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri to the Sbarro restaurant. She used disguise techniques to deflect attention from herself and al-Masri, wearing a dress that made her appear more like a “Jewish tourist” than an Arab, and using language skills gained in her journalism studies. While al-Masri died in the attack as intended, Tamimi left the area before the bomb detonated.
In an interview which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on July 12, 2012 (as translated by MEMRI), Tamimi described the reaction of other Palestinians immediately after the bombing:
“Afterwards, when I took the bus, the Palestinians around Damascus Gate [in Jerusalem] were all smiling. You could sense that everybody was happy. When I got on the bus, nobody knew that it was me who had led [the suicide bomber to the target]. I was feeling quite strange, because I had left [the bomber] ‘Izz Al-Din behind, but inside the bus, they were all congratulating one another. They didn’t even know one another, yet they were exchanging greetings…While I was sitting on the bus, the driver turned on the radio. But first, let me tell you about the gradual rise in the number of casualties. While I was on the bus and everybody was congratulating one another”.
After hearing an initial report that “three people were killed” in the bombing, Tamimi stated:
“I admit that I was a bit disappointed, because I had hoped for a larger toll. Yet when they said “three dead”, I said: ‘Allah be praised’…Two minutes later, they said on the radio that the number had increased to five. I wanted to hide my smile, but I just couldn’t. Allah be praised, it was great. As the number of dead kept increasing, the passengers were applauding”.
In subsequent interviews, Tamimi commented that she was not sorry for what she had done, and does not recognize Israel’s existence. “Despite the fact that I’m sentenced to 16 life sentences, I know that we will become free from Israeli occupation and then I will also be free from the prison”, she said. Reportedly, when she first learned from a journalist who was interviewing her in prison that she had murdered eight children, not just three as she had initially believed, she just smiled broadly and continued with the interview.
Following her release from prison, Tamimi gave an interview with the Jordanian Ammon News website, which was later posted on YouTube (as translated by MEMRI):
I do not regret what happened. Absolutely not. This is the path. I dedicated myself to Jihad for the sake of Allah, and Allah granted me success. You know how many casualties there were [in the 2001 attack on the Sbarro pizzeria]. This was made possible by Allah. Do you want me to denounce what I did? That’s out of the question. I would do it again today, and in the same manner.
She has also expressed satisfaction at the sizable death count, including those of the children, and her earlier disappointment when initial reports stated lower counts.
On July 15, 2013, the U.S. Justice Department filed criminal charges in the District of Columbia against Tamimi for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. nationals outside the US, resulting in death. The criminal complaint was unsealed on March 14, 2017. Jordanian courts ruled that Tamimi could not be extradited, as the Jordanian parliament has not ratified the extradition treaty with the United States yet.
The extradition treaty was first negotiated for the purpose of arresting Eyad Ismoil, a Jordanian citizen who assisted in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 and bringing him back from Jordan to the US. The extradition treaty was signed by Jordan’s King Hussein in 1995 and Ismoil was arrested and handed over to the US later that year.
According to one account of Ismoil’s extradition, the turning over of a Jordanian citizen over to the US on Jordanian soil was a “political hand grenade” which led to the Jordanian Parliament scrapping the treaty a week later.
There is a US$5 million reward for Ahlam Tamimi’s capture.
Tamimi is the first Islamic terrorist from the Arab League to face criminal prosecution in the United States and marks a stark about-face from American foreign policy under previous administrations.
In March 2021, Interpol suspiciously dropped its arrest warrant for Tamimi. It was later learnt that the Jordanian authorities were behind it.
Jordan plans to deport Ahlam Tamimi
Recently Jordanian authority formed a high-level committee to assess the risk of any possible sanctions from the United States on several members of the Jordanian judiciary and parliament for obstructing the extradition of FBI wanted terrorist Ahlam Tamimi. As Amman fears a fresh attempt from the Israeli side following its upcoming election on getting Ahlam Tamimi extradited to the US, Jordanian authorities are finalizing a new strategy on this matter, which would help them in averting any punitive action from the United States, which includes sanctions.
According to a credible source, Jordan is planning to transport Ahlam Tamimi either into its border with Egypt or Iraq, where from Tamimi will be secretly escorted to Iran or Qatar. Another source said, a high-powered team of Hamas is coordinating this matter.
It is further learnt, Ahlam Tamimi may be shifted under the pretense of deportation from Jordan to another country during the month of Ramadan, which is scheduled to begin on March 22, 2023.
The source further said, Jordanian authorities and Hamas are not going to extradite Ahlam Tamimi to the US. At the same time, Hamas leaders are not in favor of hosting her in Gaza, because of “security risk”, as Hamas men fears, Tamimi will be kidnapped by the Israeli forces if she is in Gaza.
