A 35-year-old Iraqi woman went on trial Monday on charges of trying to carry out a suicide attack at an Amman hotel, the AP reported. Sixty-three people were killed when suicide attacked three hotels in the Jordanian capital late last year.
Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, 35, is charged in the attacks carried out by her husband and two other bombers. Al-Rishawi's explosives belt didn't explode. She was detained after fleeing the scene and later made a televized confession.
On Monday, she stood alone in the State Security Court dock - the only one of eight defendants in custody. Chief among the defendants being tried in absentia is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda chief in Iraq and the alleged mastermind of the attacks.
Al-Rishawi told the court she was single because her marriage had not been consummated, and appealed for legal help. "I don't have a lawyer. I have God to defend me. I have no money now to secure a lawyer," she told the three judges.
The hearing was conducted under tight security.
