Jordan may swap a convicted extremist for a Japanese war journalist and a Jordanian pilot held by the Islamic State group, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported yesterday, citing Jordanian legislators.
Jordanian legislators Bassam al-Manaseer and Ali Bani Ata said in separate interviews that Jordan may comply with the militant group’s demand to release failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange for the men.
Al-Manaseer said an exchange of al-Rishawi for Japanese reporter Kenji Goto alone was impossible, the news agency said.
Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Yasuhide Nakayama said in Amman on Monday that Japan wanted to work with Jordan to secure the release of Goto and the pilot, who was captured when his plane crashed during a bombing mission against the group last month.
The comments are the clearest indication yet that the governments in Amman and Tokyo are open to a prisoner exchange.
The group had offered to swap Goto for al-Rishawi in a video on Saturday that contained images of a second Japanese hostage purportedly beheaded by the militants. The group did not offer to return the pilot.
“The rescue of the pilot is also an issue for the Japanese people,” Nakayama said in comments broadcast on NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster. “I hope that both countries can combine their forces so there is a day when the pilot and Mr Goto can return to their respective countries with smiles on their faces.”
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