A new Islamic State video has been released showing Japanese hostage Kenji Goto holding a photograph of captured Jordanian pilot, 1st Lt Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh. In it, a voiceover purportedly by Goto, warns that the Japanese journalist and al-Kaseasbeh will be executed in 24 hours unless a jailed female terrorist is released
The
Islamic State today threatened to kill a Japanese journalist and a
Jordanian pilot within 24 hours unless a jailed female terrorist is
released.
A
video posted on jihadist websites shows a picture of Japanese hostage
Kenji Goto holding a photograph of captured Jordanian pilot, 1st Lt
Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh.
A
voiceover, purportedly by Goto, warns that Jordan is blocking the
Japanese journalist's release by failing to free Sajida al-Rishawi, a
would-be suicide bomber on death row since 2006.
The
statement says Goto and al-Kaseasbeh will be killed within 24 hours if
al-Rishawi is not freed and urges the Japanese government to put
pressure on Jordan.
The
voiceover warns: 'Any more delays by the Jordanian government will mean
they are responsible for the death of the pilot which will then be
followed by mine.
'I only have 24 hours left to live... and the pilot has even less. Please don't leave us to die.
The video matched a message released over the weekend, which also called for her release though neither bore the logo of the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm as other footage has done.
The weekend video showed a still photo of Kenji Goto holding what appears to be a photo of the body of the second Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa.
An ISIS video over the weekend purportedly showed Japanese prisoner Kenji Goto holding a picture of fellow captive Haruna Yukawa's body appeared alongside the recording, but some have said it looks photoshopped
Mr Goto, pictured, is a war correspondent with experience in Middle East hot spots. He went to Syria in late October to try to help Mr Yukawa, who was described as a friend, after he was captured in Aleppo in August
A Japanese envoy in Jordan, Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama, earlier expressed hope the two hostages would return home 'with a smile on their faces.'
'I hope we can all firmly work hard and join hands to co-operate, and for the two countries (Japan and Jordan) to co-operate in order for us to see the day when the Jordanian pilot and our Japanese national Mr Goto, can both safely return to their own countries with a smile on their faces,' he told reporters late Monday night after another day of crisis talks in the Jordanian capital.
It was the first time a Japanese official mentioned al-Kaseasbeh, who has been held by the extremist Islamic State group after crashing in December.
It wasn't clear when the pilot's possible release had entered the picture.
Freelance journalist Kenji Goto was seized in late October in Syria, apparently while trying to rescue another hostage, 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa, who was captured by the militants last summer.
Japanese officials have indicated they are treating the video released over the weekend as authentic and thus accepting the likelihood that Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer captured in Syria last summer, was killed.
Sajida al-Rishawi gained notoriety in 2005 after confessing on Jordanian television that she tried to blow herself up alongside her husband in an Al Qaeda attack in Amman, Jordan.
The failed suicide bomber's chilling confession came after she was arrested when her bomb belt failed to detonate at the Radisson Hotel, a building commonly frequented by diplomats.
Mr Goto (left) appeared in recent footage alongside Mr Yukawa (right) and ISIS murderer Jihadi John. However experts also believe this footage was doctored, possibly stitched together from several recordings
Appearing in a headscarf and a long black coat, she said: 'We went into the hotel. He (my husband) took a corner and I took another.
'My husband executed the attack. I tried to detonate and it failed. People started running and I ran with them.'
Rishawi's husband and two other suicide bombers belonging to Al Qaeda in Iraq killed themselves and 60 other people in the three simultaneous attacks at the Hyatt, Radisson and Days Inn hotels.
Following her capture and confession, she was sentenced to death.
Despite later retracting the confession and appealing her sentence, she remains imprisoned in Jordan.
Securing the release of al-Rishawi would be a major propaganda coup for the Islamic State and would allow the group to reaffirm its links to Al Qaeda in Iraq.