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 Islamic State had demanded the release of the woman, Sajida
al-Rishawi, in exchange for a Japanese hostage whom it later
beheaded. Sentenced to death for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb
attack in Amman, Rishawi was executed at dawn, a security source and
state television said.
Jordan, which is part of the U.S.-led alliance against Islamic
State, has promised an "earth-shaking response" to the killing of
its pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, who was captured in December when his
F-16 crashed over northeastern Syria.
Jordan also executed a senior al Qaeda prisoner, Ziyad Karboli, an
Iraqi man who was sentenced to death in 2008.
The fate of Kasaesbeh, a member of a large tribe that forms the
backbone of support for the country's Hashemite monarchy, has
gripped Jordan for weeks and some Jordanians have criticised King
Abdullah for embroiling them in the U.S.-led war that they say will
provoke a militant backlash.
King Abdullah cut short an official visit to the United States on
Tuesday. In a televised statement to the nation, he urged national
unity and said the killing was a cowardly act of terror by a
criminal group that has no relation to Islam.
 There was widespread shock and anger in Jordan at the brutality of a
killing that drew international condemnation.
Kasaesbeh's father said the two executions were not enough and urged
the government to do more to avenge his death.
"I want the state to get revenge for my son's blood through more
executions of those people who follow this criminal group that
shares nothing with Islam," Safi al-Kasaesbeh told Reuters.
"Jordanians are demanding that the state and coalition take revenge
with even more painful blows to destroy these criminals," he said.
The Jordanian army has vowed to avenge his death, and some analysts
believe it could escalate its involvement in the campaign against
Islamic State, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria,
Jordan's neighbours to the north and east.
In the pilot's home village of Ay, mourners said Jordanians must
rally around the state. "Today we put our differences behind us and
rally behind the king and nation," said Jabar Sarayrah, a
shopkeeper.
The prisoners were executed in Swaqa prison, 70 km (45 miles) south
of Amman, just before dawn, a security source who was familiar with
the case said. "They were both calm and showed no emotions and just
prayed," the source added without elaborating.
JORDAN'S ROLE
Rishawi, in her mid-forties, was part of an al Qaeda network that
targeted three Amman hotels in suicide bombings in 2005. She was
meant to die in one of the attacks - the worst in Jordan's history -
but her suicide bomb belt did not go off.
Jordan said on Tuesday the pilot had been killed a month ago. The
government had been picking up intelligence for weeks that the pilot
was killed some time ago, a source close to the government said.
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Disclosing that information appeared to be an attempt to counter
domestic criticism that the government could have done more to
strike a deal with Islamic State to save him.
"The horror of the killing, the method of killing is probably going
to generate more short-term support for the state," said a Western
diplomat. "But once that horror dies down, inevitably some of the
questions revert on Jordan’s role in the coalition."
The Jordanian pilot is the first from the coalition known to have
been captured and killed by Islamic State.
Jordan is a major U.S. ally in the fight against hardline Islamist
groups and hosted U.S. troops during operations that led to the
invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is home to hundreds of U.S. military
trainers bolstering defences at the Syrian and Iraqi borders, and is
determined to keep the jihadists in Syria away from its frontier.
Jordanian state television broadcast archive footage of military
manoeuvres with patriotic music, with a picture of Kasaesbeh in
uniform in the corner of the screen.
U.S. officials said on Tuesday the pilot's death would likely harden
Jordan's position as a member of the coalition against Islamic
State.
The Syrian government condemned the killing and urged Jordan to
cooperate with it in a fight against Islamic State and the al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Syria. The United States has ruled out
Syria as a partner in the campaign against Islamic State, describing
President Bashar al-Assad as part of the problem.
The executed woman came from Iraq's Anbar province bordering Jordan.
Her tribal Iraqi relatives were close aides of the slain Jordanian
leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, from whose group
Islamic State emerged.
Islamic State had demanded her release in exchange for the life of
Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. However, Goto was beheaded by the
group, video released last Saturday showed.
Jordan had insisted that they would only release the woman as part
of a deal to free the pilot.
(Editing by Robert Birsel and Anna Willard)
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