AMMAN, Jordan — King Abdullah II returned here to an unexpectedly warm welcome on Wednesday, as cheering crowds expressed support for the country’s swift executions of two terrorist prisoners in retaliation for the Islamic State’s grisly killing of a Jordanian pilot.
The state news agency Petra confirmed that two Iraqis already on death row here, a would-be suicide bomber, Sajida al-Rishawi, and a former top lieutenant of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Ziad al-Karbouli, were executed Wednesday at dawn, less than 12 hours after ISIS released a video that showed the Jordanian pilot, First Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh, being burned alive inside a cage.
Jordan has another 100 prisoners on death row, but only three of them are known to have been convicted of terrorism offenses.
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Jordan demanded proof of life for its pilot first, which never came, and the extremists beheaded Mr. Goto on Saturday, then on Tuesday released the video of the pilot’s death.
The Japanese government continued on Wednesday to express support for Jordan’s handling of the crisis and condemnation for ISIS. “I am infuriated,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. “I am rendered speechless to think of how his family must be feeling. Japan stands with Jordan during these difficult times.”
Martin Fackler contributed reporting from Tokyo.
