Japan, Jordan faced with deadlock in hostage crisis
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EFFORTS by Japan and Jordan to secure the release of two of their nationals held captive by Islamic State militants remain “deadlocked” and the situation remains highly unpredictable, Japanese officials said.
Militants had threatened to kill Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh unless a would-be suicide bomber being held on death row in Amman was handed over by sunset on Thursday.
Japanese journalist Kenji Goto is also being held.
“The situation is deadlocked,” Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama said in Jordan on Friday, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in Tokyo yesterday that the situation was unpredictable, NHK reported.
“Anything could happen. We can’t predict it at all,” he said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga arrived at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office yesterday, and the prime minister is on standby to receive updates on the situation, NHK said.
Jordan’s army said on Friday that state agencies were “working round the clock.”
An audio message purportedly from Goto said the pilot would be killed if Jordan did not free Sajida al-Rishawi, jailed for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack in Amman that killed 60 people. The message extended a previous deadline set on Tuesday in which Goto said he would be killed within 24 hours if al-Rishawi was not freed.
The hostage crisis came as IS, which has already released videos showing the beheadings of five Western hostages, comes under increased pressure from United States-led air strikes, and by Kurdish and Iraqi troops trying to reverse the group’s territorial gains in Iraq and Syria.
Abe has repeatedly said Japan will not give in to terrorism.
The hostage crisis erupted after he announced US$200 million in non-military aid for countries opposing IS, but his government has rejected suggestions it acted rashly.
Goto traveled to Syria in late October. According to his friends and business associates, he was attempting to secure the release of Haruna Yukawa, his friend and fellow Japanese citizen who was captured by Islamic State in August.
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