An audio message purportedly from a Japanese journalist being held by Islamic State (IS) militants said a Jordanian air force pilot also held by the group would be killed unless an Iraqi female prisoner in Jordan was released by sunset on Thursday.
The message appeared to postpone a previous deadline set on Tuesday in which the journalist, Kenji Goto, said he would be killed within 24 hours if the Iraqi was not freed.
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The latest audio recording, which has yet to be verified, was posted on YouTube early on Thursday. Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that chances were high it was Mr Goto’s voice in the recording.
“I am Kenji Goto. This is a voice message I’ve been told to send to you. If Sajida al-Rishawi is not ready for exchange for my life at the Turkish border by Thursday sunset 29th of January Mosul (Iraq) time, the Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh will be killed immediately,” the voice in the recording says.
Jordan said on Wednesday it had received no assurance that Mr al-Kasaesbeh was safe and that it would go ahead with a proposed prisoner swap only if he was freed.
The audio tape message implied that the Jordanian pilot would not be part of the exchange deal, indicating any swap would be between Mr Goto - a veteran war reporter - and Ms al-Rishawi. Any swap that left out the pilot would not go down well with the public in Jordan, where officials have insisted he is their priority.
There was no immediate comment from Jordanian government officials, but a security official said the authorities were trying to verify the authenticity of the recording and were coordinating with their Japanese counterparts.
On Tuesday, a video was released purporting to show the Japanese national saying he had 24 hours to live unless Jordan released Ms al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman on death row for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in the capital Amman.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said earlier that Jordan was ready to release Ms al-Rishawi if Mr Kasaesbeh was spared, but made clear that she would be held until the pilot was freed.
Mr Kasaesbeh was captured after his jet crashed in northeastern Syria in December during a bombing mission against Islamic State, which has captured large tracts of Syria and Iraq. He is from an important Jordanian tribe that forms the backbone of support for the Hashemite monarchy.
The Jordanian comments have raised concerns in Japan that Mr Goto might no longer be part of any deal between Amman and Islamic State. But CNN quoted Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh as saying that “of course” the Japanese hostage’s release would be part of any exchange.
The hostage crisis is the biggest diplomatic test for Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe since he took office in 2012 pledging to bolster Japan’s defence and play a bigger role in global security.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Mr Abe said the government was making every effort to ensure Mr Goto’s early release and repeated that Japan was seeking cooperation from Jordan.
“If we are too afraid of terrorism and give in to it, this will give rise to fresh terrorism against Japanese and it will become a world in which the will to carry out despicable violence has its own way,” Mr Abe told a lower house budget committee. “Such a thing is totally impermissible.”
The crisis erupted after Mr Abe, while on a tour of the Middle East, announced $200 million in non-military aid for countries contending with Islamic State, but his government has rejected any suggestion it acted rashly and stressed the assistance was humanitarian.
Mr Goto went to Syria in late October. According to 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.
A video on Saturday appeared to show Mr Goto with a picture of a decapitated Yukawa, saying his captors’ demands had switched to the release of Ms al-Rishawi.
Tuesday’s video featured an audio track over a still picture that appeared to show Mr Goto holding a picture of a now bearded Mr Kasaesbeh.
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