BackIslamic State sets sunset deadline for hostage exchange
A man purporting to be Kenji Goto, the Japanese journalist that Islamic State has also threatened to kill, conveyed the latest message in an audio clip
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Beirut: Islamic State set a new deadline for Jordan to release a convicted terrorist, saying it would kill a Jordanian pilot it holds “immediately" if the Iraqi woman isn’t handed over by sunset on Thursday in Mosul, Iraq.
A man purporting to be Kenji Goto, the Japanese journalist that Islamic State has also threatened to kill, conveyed the latest message in an audio clip, according to SITE Intel Group, a company that studies militant movements. The new deadline would be about 5:30 pm in Mosul or 11:30 pm in Tokyo.
Islamic State has demanded that Jordan hand over Sajida al- Rishawi, a convicted jihadist on death row, as its price for freeing Goto, a freelance war correspondent. Jordan has signaled it’s ready to release al-Rishawi in exchange for the pilot Moath al-Kasassbeh, but Islamic State must first offer proof that al- Kasassbeh is alive. In a video offering the prisoner swap for Goto, Islamic State did not mention the possibility of releasing the pilot.
The pilot’s father, Safi al-Kasassbeh, told reporters after a meeting at the royal palace in Amman late Wednesday that King Abdullah had assured him his son would be in Jordan the following day. Al-Kasassbeh was captured by Islamic State last month when his plane crashed in Syria during a bombing run against the group.
Bassam Al-Manaseer, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament in Amman, said on Wednesday that he expected to hear good news “in the next few hours."
Hotel bombings
Al-Rishawi was convicted for her part in attacks on three hotels in Amman in 2005 that killed dozens of people. Her husband carried out a suicide bombing, while her bomb failed to explode.
The possibility of a deal may strain ties between the countries and the US, which has pushed its allies not to negotiate with militant groups like Islamic State. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly said he would never cave in to terrorists.
As the previous deadline of late Wednesday for Goto’s execution neared in Tokyo, more than 100 people gathered outside Abe’s residence for a vigil in support of the journalist who specialized in drawing attention to the plight of children. Goto’s mother also urged the premier to help save her son’s life.
Islamic State first made the offer to swap Goto for al- Rishawi in a 24 January video that contained images of the body of Haruna Yukawa, a second Japanese hostage beheaded by the militants. Goto went last year to the region to seek Yukawa’s release. The Japanese government said the video appeared genuine.
Yukawa was killed after Japan failed to pay a $200 million initially demanded by the group in a 20 January video. Islamic State then dropped the ransom demand in a second video when it called for al-Rishawi’s release. Bloomberg
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