TEMPO.CO, Tokyo - Japan is seeking help from the Jordanian government after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group released a new video threatening to kill Japanese hostages Kenji Goto and Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh, within the next 24 hours.
Japanese and Jordanian officials were reportedly holding talks concerning ISIS' demand to release Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman convicted for her role in multiple bombings in Amman back in 2005, which killed 60 people. According to the report, ISIS demanded that al-Rishawi to be exchanged for Goto and al-Kaseasbeh.
Previously, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was furious about ISIS's demand. He mentioned that the threat was "utterly despicable". "The government, in this extremely severe situation, has been asking for the Jordanian government's cooperation towards the early release of Mr. Goto, and this policy remains unchanged," Abe said.
After demanding a US$200 million ransom (around Rp 2.5 billion), the group demanded that Jordan must release Sajida al-Rishawi, who was sentenced with capital punishment since 2006 several bombing attacks.
Goto, a Japanese journalist, was abducted by armed men in October 2014 after visiting Syria in an attempt to free his friend Haruna Yukawa. Yukawa was executed last week after Japan refused to pay US$270 million ransom demanded by ISIS last Friday.
AL JAZEERA | CHOIRUL
