LONG TIME COMING

U.S. Reveals Charges Against 2001 Jerusalem Pizza-Shop Terrorist

Ahlam Tamimi would need to be extradited from Jordan.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday unsealed charges against Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, the Jordanian national who was previously convicted in Israel of participating in an August 9, 2001, suicide-bomb attack on a pizza restaurant in Jerusalem. According to a press release, the charges against Al-Tamimi include conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. nationals outside the U.S., resulting in death. Fifteen people, including two U.S. nationals, were killed in the attack that also injured 100+ others, including four more Americans. The criminal charge against Al-Tamimi had been under seal since July 15, 2013. The affidavit notes that she pleaded guilty in Israeli court in 2003 to multiple counts of murder, and was sentenced to 16 life terms in prison, but was released after eight years as part of a prisoner exchange with Hamas officials. Al-Tamimi eventually returned to Jordan, where courts have ruled that she cannot be extradited as a Jordanian national. However, the DOJ said, “The U.S. has worked and will continue to work with its foreign partners to obtain custody of Al-Tamimi so she can be held accountable for her role in the terrorist bombing.”