Jordan says it would swap terrorist for ISIS captive
CNN)What
started as a dire, but unfortunately familiar, kidnapping by ISIS of
two Japanese citizens has evolved into something else.
It
was a life-and-death negotiation between ISIS and Japan that has
apparently claimed one life and brought another country into the mix.
A brief summary of the dizzying developments:
• ISIS demanded $200 million from Japan in exchange for the release of two hostages, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto
• Japan refused to pay, and ISIS announced that it beheaded Yukawa.
•
ISIS dropped its demand for money and made a new request: To save
Goto's life, Japan must pressure Jordan to release Sajida al-Rishawi, a
convicted would-be suicide bomber.
• If
Jordan does not release the prisoner, ISIS warned, it would kill two
prisoners: Goto and Moaz al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian military pilot being
held by the terrorists.
• Jordan
responded by offering to release al-Rishawi in exchange for its pilot.
The Jordanian offer did not mention the remaining Japanese hostage at
all.
Deadline looming
Jordan would release al-Rishawi as
ISIS apparently demanded, if ISIS releases al-Kassasbeh, the country's
state-run TV said Wednesday, citing Jordanian Information Minister
Mohammed Momani.
The announcement comes as an apparent ISIS deadline looms: A video file posted online Tuesday
said that ISIS would kill al-Kassasbeh and Goto within 24 hours if
Jordan did not release al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman who has been
imprisoned in Jordan since 2005.
It
wasn't immediately clear if ISIS would accept Jordan's offer. In two
videos since last week, the terror group appeared to offer Goto's
freedom in exchange for al-Rishawi's. It did not offer al-Kassasbeh's
freedom, but indicated in one instance that he and Goto would be killed
if al-Rishawi were not freed.
Wednesday's Jordanian news bulletin about the country's offer to swap al-Rishawi for al-Kassasbeh made no mention of Goto.
With
the fates of their children hanging in the balance, the families of
Goto and al-Kassasbeh called on their governments Wednesday to do
everything they can to save the hostages before time runs out.
Why does ISIS want Sajida al-Rishawi? 02:23
Tuesday's
apparent ISIS video file showed a static image of Goto holding a
picture that appears to be al-Kassasbeh, the pilot captured by ISIS last
month after his jet crashed in Syria.
With the image, a voice purporting to be that of Goto repeats an earlier proposal that he will go free if Jordan releases al-Rishawi, who is on death row in Jordan for her role in deadly bombings in 2005.
But
the latest message says the lives of both Goto and al-Kassasbeh are at
stake if the swap doesn't taken place before the deadline.
CNN
couldn't independently verify the authenticity of Tuesday's message,
which was posted to YouTube and distributed on social media by known
ISIS supporters. The Japanese government said there was no evidence so
far that it wasn't Goto speaking in the video.
Families' anguish
Goto's mother on Wednesday begged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to secure her son's release.
"Please
save the life of Kenji," Junko Ishido said. "I call on you to work with
all your strength in negotiations with the Jordanian government, until
the very end."
Al-Kassasbeh's father has called on Jordanian authorities to act, as well.
"I
firmly ask whomever has sent Moaz to fight outside the borders of
Jordan, on a mission unrelated to us, to make strong efforts to bring
back Moaz," Safi al-Kassasbeh said Tuesday.
"Moaz's blood is precious, it's precious and it represents the blood of all Jordanians," he said.
Indirect talks reported
It's unclear exactly what steps Jordanian and Japanese officials are taking to free their citizens.
Abe on Wednesday called the latest message about Goto "despicable" and said Japan is requesting Jordan's cooperation to secure his release.
Bassam
al-Manaseer, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the lower
house of the Jordanian parliament, said Tuesday that Jordan is in
indirect negotiations with ISIS to secure the release of Goto and
al-Kassasbeh, Bloomberg News reported.
The talks are happening through religious and tribal leaders in Iraq, al-Manaseer told Bloomberg.
Japanese
Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama said Wednesday in Amman, the
Jordanian capital, that he had no new information to report on the
situation.
He declined to comment on
the possibility of a prisoner swap, saying that officials were doing
their best to try to bring Goto back alive.
"This is what we will work for persistently, and we will never give up," he said.
Jordan
is part of the U.S.-led coalition that is carrying out airstrikes
against ISIS targets. Japan isn't involved in military action but has
pledged $200 million in humanitarian aid to countries affected by ISIS.
Grim track record
The
militant group, which holds large areas of Iraq and Syria under its
brutal rule, has a grim track record of ruthlessly killing hostages.
Last year, it publicized its series of beheadings of three American and
two British captives.
ISIS demands hostage swap 02:02
In a video file posted Saturday
that's believed to be from ISIS, Goto was shown holding a picture of
what appeared to be the corpse of Haruna Yukawa, the other Japanese man
ISIS was holding.
In the Saturday post,
a voice thought to be Goto's first set out the idea of exchanging him
for al-Rishawi, but no clear deadline was mentioned.
An ISIS-affiliated Internet radio station also reported the killing of Yukawa and the proposed prisoner swap.
'This is my last message'
The
new post on Tuesday announced that time was suddenly in short supply
for Goto and the Jordanian pilot. The Japanese hostage is shown
handcuffed and dressed in orange.
"I've
been told this is my last message, and I've also been told that the
barrier obstructing my freedom is now just the Jordanian government
delaying the handover of Sajida," the voice says. "Tell the Japanese
government to put all the political pressure on Jordan."
"Her
for me -- a straight exchange," the voice says, referring to
al-Rishawi. "Any more delays by the Jordanian government will mean they
are responsible for the death of their pilot, which will then be
followed by mine."
But the pilot's father suggested his son's case shouldn't be mixed up with Goto's.
"To
link Moaz's situation with the Japanese journalist, this has nothing to
do with us," he said. "The Japanese journalist has his country to
defend him."
Journalist aimed to help friend
Goto,
an experienced war journalist, is believed to have entered
ISIS-controlled territory in October to try to help Yukawa, who was
reported to have been captured in August.
The two Japanese men are believed to have become friends after meeting in Syria earlier in 2014.
Yukawa,
42, has been described as a lost soul who went to the war-torn Middle
Eastern country with dreams of building a private security business. He
had previously suffered a series of setbacks, including the death of his
wife and the loss of his home.
Goto, 47, is reported to have three children, two of them with his current wife.
ISIS
says it captured al-Kassasbeh, the Jordanian pilot, after he ejected
from his F-16 jet last month near Raqqa, the militant group's de facto
capital in Syria.
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