The judge said he was dropping all charges against Zarqawi after having obtained proof of his death.

The Al-Qaeda group in Iraq headed by the Jordanian-born Zarqawi -- whose name and organisation are involved in several conspiracy trials underway in Jordan -- had claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Ironically, Jordan's King Abdullah II freed Zarqawi in 1999 as part of a general amnesty. The king was later to call the terror leader a "street thug."

Security was tight around the courthouse in east Amman for the verdict and reporters were prohibited from taking in mobile phones and camera equipment. Television crews were also kept at bay.

Rishawi was arrested four days after the bombings, during which her husband Ali Hussein al-Shammari, and two other Iraqis, blew themselves up.

In the dramatic televised confession after her arrest, Rishawi said she too had tried but failed to activate her explosives belt at the Radisson SAS hotel as a wedding reception was in full swing.

Rishawi's lawyer failed at the onset of the trial to obtain a psychological evaluation of his client, saying she had a family history of schizophrenia.

On one occasion Rishawi told the court that her confessions were made under duress and once she claimed to have been tortured, only to retract her statement minutes later.

Zarqawi had been sentenced to death three times by Jordan's state security court in connection with the murder of a US diplomat and two conspiracy plots.

The verdict comes almost a month after Jordan's parliament passed a new anti-terrorism law which the government wanted to fast-track after the hotel bombings.

But the law has triggered concern from experts, with the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter terrorism, Martin Scheinin, saying it could damaging human rights.

"The law gives considerable powers... with regard to detention, search and arrest that effectively negate the right to privacy, freedom and movement and the presumption of innocence," Scheinin said.

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