The Islamic State (IS) group threatened to execute a captured Jordanian pilot “immediately” unless Amman frees an Iraqi female jihadist by sunset yesterday in exchange for a Japanese hostage.
In a new audio recording, a voice identifying itself as Japanese journalist Kenji Goto says his captors will kill airman Maaz al-
Kassasbeh if the militant on death row is not handed over at the Turkish border in return for Goto’s life.
Photo: Reuters
At the Turkish border post of Akcakale, which faces the Islamic State-held Syrian town of Tel Abyad, dozens of journalists, including some Japanese, were waiting for a possible swap.
It is not clear from the unverified message, which was distributed by IS-linked Twitter accounts and reported by monitor SITE Intelligence Group, if al-Kassasbeh would be freed.
The Jordanian army said it was examining the new message.
“Our priority is Maaz,” a military spokesman said.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told journalists the recording seemed genuine.
“We are in the process of confirming it, but it is highly probable that the voice is Mr Goto’s,” he said.
The apparent communication breaks a silence from the extremists since their previous 24-hour deadline to release Iraqi jihadist Sajida al-Rishawi expired at about 2pm GMT on Wednesday.
The new deadline falls when the sun sets in the Iraqi city of Mosul at about 3pm GMT.
Amman has offered to free the Iraqi woman, who was convicted for her part in triple-hotel bombings in the Jordanian capital in 2005 that killed 60 people, if the militants release their airman.
“Jordan is ready to release the prisoner Sajida al-Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot is freed unharmed,” state television quoted a government spokesman as saying on Wednesday.
“From the start, the position of Jordan was to ensure the safety of our son, the pilot Maaz al-
Kassasbeh,” it added.
The government spokesman made no mention of Japanese hostage Goto.
After conflicting reports on Wednesday about the status of the possible swap, Jordan arrested two managers of a Web site for spreading rumors that Rishawi had already been released.
The owner of the Saraya News site, Hashim al-Khalidi, and editor-in-chief Seif Obeidat could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The kingdom is under heavy pressure at home and from Japan — a major aid donor — to save al-Kassasbeh as well as Goto.
Al-Kassasbeh was captured on Dec. 24 after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria.
This week the pilot’s father begged the government to save his son “at any price.”
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