A BAD BREAK IN JORDAN

From correspondents in Amman
Jordanian woman hanged twice

A JORDANIAN woman convicted of murdering two children was hanged twice today after the rope broke the first time because of her weight, police officials said.

I'tisam Hussein, 21, fell to the ground when the rope broke but did not fracture any bones, said one of the officials who attended the execution. She was frightened and in pain, but was not given any sedatives, he said, on condition of anonymity.

The rope was changed and she was hanged within the hour, after a delay as prison wardens tried to calm her down.

It was the second strange hanging incident in Jordan since 1997, when the head of another woman convict split from her body during execution.