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| Safi al-Kaseasbeh, left, father of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who is held by Islamic State group militants, attends a protest in front of the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. Jordan on Wednesday offered a precedent-setting prisoner swap to the Islamic State group in a desperate attempt to save a Jordanian air force pilot the militants purportedly threatened to kill, along with a Japanese hostage. |
BEIRUT (AP)
-- The Islamic State group released a message late Wednesday purportedly
by Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, extending the deadline for Jordan's
release of an Iraqi would-be hotel bomber linked to al-Qaida.
Earlier
in the day, Jordan had offered a precedent-setting prisoner swap to the
Islamic State group in a desperate attempt to save a Jordanian air
force pilot the militants purportedly threatened to kill, along with a
Goto.
The audio recording, in English, says
the Jordanians must present Sajida al-Rishawi at the Turkish border by
sunset Thursday, or Jordanian pilot Mu'as al-Kasaseabeh will be killed.
The
Associated Press could not independently verify the contents of the
recording which was distributed on Twitter by IS-affiliated accounts.
On Wednesday, the pilot's father met with Jordan's king who he said assured him that "everything will be fine."
King
Abdullah II faces growing domestic pressure to bring the pilot home.
However, meeting the Islamic State's demand for the release of a
would-be hotel bomber linked to al-Qaida would run counter to the
kingdom's hardline approach to the extremists.
Efforts
to release al-Kaseasbeh and Goto gained urgency with the release late
Tuesday of a purported online ultimatum claiming the Islamic State group
would kill both hostages within 24 hours if the al-Qaida-linked
prisoner was not freed.
The scope of a possible swap and of the Islamic State group's demands also remained unclear.
Jordanian
government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said Jordan is ready to trade
the prisoner, an Iraqi woman convicted of involvement in deadly Amman
hotel bombings in 2005, for the pilot. Al-Momani made no mention of
Goto.
Any exchange would set a precedent for
negotiating with the Islamic State militants, who in the past have not
publicly demanded prisoner releases. Jordan's main ally, the United
States, opposes negotiations with extremists.
The
release of al-Rishawi, the al-Qaida-linked prisoner, would also be a
propaganda coup for the militants who have already overrun large parts
of neighboring Syria and Iraq. Jordan is part of a U.S.-led military
alliance that has carried out airstrikes against Islamic State targets
in Syria and Iraq in recent months.
Participation
in the alliance is unpopular in Jordan, and the capture of the pilot
has only exacerbated such sentiments, analysts said.
"Public
opinion in Jordan is putting huge pressure on the government to
negotiate with the Islamic State group," said Marwan Shehadeh, a scholar
with ties to ultra-conservative Islamic groups in Jordan. "If the
government doesn't make a serious effort to release him, the morale of
the entire military will deteriorate and the public will lose trust in
the political regime."
The pilot's family, meanwhile, is increasingly vocal in its criticism of the government.
Several
dozen protesters gathered Wednesday outside King Abdullah's palace in
Amman, urging the government to do more to win the release of the pilot.
"Listen, Abdullah, the son of Jordan (the pilot) must be returned home," the protesters chanted.
The
pilot's father, Safi al-Kasaesbeh, was part of the group and was
allowed into the palace, along with his wife, to meet Abdullah.
"The king told me that Muath is like my son and God willing everything will be fine," al-Kasaesbeh said afterward.
Earlier, he criticized the government's handling of the crisis.
"I
contacted the Turkish authorities after I found that the Jordanian
government is not serious in the negotiations," he told The Associated
Press. "The government needs to work seriously, the way one would do to
free a son, like the Japanese government does."
Jordan
reportedly is holding indirect talks with the militants through
religious and tribal leaders in Iraq to secure the release of the
hostages.
In his brief statement, al-Momani
only said Jordan is willing to swap al-Rishawi for the pilot, but not if
such an exchange is being arranged. Al-Rishawi was sentenced to death
for her involvement in the al-Qaida attack on hotels in Amman that
killed 60 people.
In Tokyo, Goto's mother,
Junko Ishido, appealed publicly to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Please
save Kenji's life," Ishido said, begging Abe to work with the Jordanian
government until the very end to try to save Goto.
"Kenji
has only a little time left," she said in a plea read to reporters.
Ishido said both Abe and Japan's main government spokesman had declined
to meet with her.
Later, a few dozen people
gathered outside the prime minister's official residence, holding
banners expressing hopes for Goto's release. "I have been trying to keep
my hopes up and believe that Mr. Goto will return. I have this faith
within me," said Seigo Maeda, 46, a friend of Goto.
The militants reportedly have killed a Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, and the crisis has stunned Japan.
Muath
al-Kaseasbeh, 26, was seized after his Jordanian F-16 crashed in
December near the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa in
Syria. He is the first foreign military pilot the militants have
captured since the coalition began its airstrikes in August.
This
is the first time the group has publicly demanded the release of
prisoners in exchange for hostages. Previous captives may have been
freed in exchange for ransom, although the governments involved have
refused to confirm any payments were made.
Goto,
a freelance journalist, was captured in October in Syria, apparently
while trying to rescue Yukawa, 42, who was taken hostage last summer.
The
Islamic State group broke with al-Qaida's central leadership in 2013
and has clashed with its Syrian branch, but it reveres the global terror
network's former Iraqi affiliate, which battled U.S. forces and claimed
the 2005 Amman attack.
