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.”
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS