BEIRUT: A video has reportedly appeared on the internet showing one of the Japanese hostages held by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) rebels. He claimed his companion was executed and said the Islamic State want him swapped for a female suicide bomber.
Kenji Goto shows a picture of the beheaded body of his fellow captive, Haruna Yukawa, reported the SITE Intel Group, an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorists.
In his message, Goto reportedly blames Japans prime minister for Yukawas death and says that the Islamic State now wants the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an alleged attempted suicide bomber, who is believed to be connected to the attack on a hotel in Jordan in 2005.
Sajida al-Rishawi is currently in prison in Jordan. During the 2005 attack in Amman her suicide belt didnt detonate and she survived. Later she was captured and confessed, but later retracted her confession. She was sentenced to death in 2006, but appealed to the court and the case is still in process of appeal.
Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga has said his country is outraged by the atrocity.
“This is an outrageous and unacceptable act,” Suga said. “We strongly demand the prompt release of the remaining Mr. Kenji Goto, without harm.”
Suga also said the government is holding an emergency meeting over the situation. The authorities have started an investigation and verification of the contents of the video.
On Tuesday, the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) terrorist group published a video on several extremist websites showing two Asian men wearing orange fatigues standing on their knees alongside a masked man in black holding a knife. The man said the militant group demanded a $200 million ransom for the hostages lives to be paid within 72 hours. This is the same amount of money that Japan had pledged to pay as a contribution to the US-led campaign against IS.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated that he will stand by his countrys commitment not to pay ransoms while speaking on the phone with UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday, Kyodo news agency reported.
Abe said multiple times that that he will not give in to terrorism. However, his government vowed to rescue the Japanese nationals, with the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stating that the government is doing everything it can, and saving lives is the top priority.
Meanwhile, Tokyo had failed to contact the militants to negotiate the release in the given time.
The Japanese hostage is the last victim on the list of foreign hostages executed by IS militants in Syria and Iraq, for whom their governments refused to pay ransom. Among them are US aid worker Peter Kassig executed in November 2014, UK aid worker Alan Henning murdered in October 2014, UK aid worker David Haines killed in September 2014 and American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, slain in August 2014.
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