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Junko Ishido, mother of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto who is being held hostage by the Islamic State group, speaks during a press conference. Photo: AP
Jordan said on Wednesday it had received no assurance that one of its pilots captured by Islamic State insurgents was safe and that it would go ahead with a proposed prisoner swap only if he was freed.
The fate of air force pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh was thought to be tied to that of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, a veteran war reporter who is also being held by the insurgent group.
A video was released on Tuesday purporting to show the Japanese national saying he had 24 hours to live unless Jordan released Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman on death row for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack.
Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said Jordan was ready to release al-Rishawi if Kasaesbeh was spared, but made clear that she was still being held until the pilot was freed.
"It's not true she has been released. Her release is tied to freeing our pilot," Momani told Reuters. He made no mention of Goto.
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said on his official Twitter account that a Jordanian request for proof that Kasaesbeh was safe and well had gone unanswered.
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.
The voice on the video said Kasaesbeh had a shorter time to live than Goto. Japan confirmed the existence of the video at 11 pm on Tuesday.
"Twenty-four hours have passed since we confirmed the image of Mr. Goto, but there hasn't been any information of any particular big movement," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Yasuhide Nakayama speaks to the media in front of the Japanese embassy in Amman. Photo: Reuters
He said Japan would continue to do its best to secure his release, staying in contact with Jordan.
Momani said Jordan's priority was to secure the release of the pilot, who hails from an important Jordanian tribe that forms the backbone of support for the Hashemite monarchy.
Several hundred people, including Kasaesbeh's relatives, gathered in front of the office of Jordan's prime minister on Tuesday, urging authorities to meet Islamic State's demands.
Al-Rishawi has been held in Jordan over her role in a suicide bombing that killed 60 people in the capital Amman.
Mother's plea
A spokesman at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office said he had no immediate comment on the Jordanian statement.
The hostage-taking presents Abe with his biggest diplomatic crisis since he took power in 2012, and there has been a flurry of unconfirmed reports in Japanese media that a swap deal involving Goto might be in the works.
Goto's mother, speaking shortly after the presumed deadline had passed late on Wednesday, said: "My emotions are all over the place.
"A time limit has been set, and that has made me nervous," Junko Ishido told reporters at her Tokyo home.
She had earlier urged the Japanese government to do its utmost to save his life and reiterated that her son was not an enemy of Islam.
Abe said Tuesday's video was "despicable". He called on Jordan to cooperate in working for Goto's quick release, but promised that Tokyo would not give in to terrorism.
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.
In the first of three videos purportedly of Goto, released last week, a black-clad masked figure with a knife said Goto and Yukawa would be killed within 72 hours if Japan did not pay Islamic State $200 million.
The captor resembled a figure from previous Islamic State videos whose threats have preceded beheadings.
A video on Saturday appeared to show Goto with a picture of a decapitated Yukawa, saying his captors' demands had switched to the release of al-Rishawi.
Tuesday's video featured an audio track over a still picture that appeared to show Goto holding a picture of a now bearded Kasaesbeh.
Officials involved in the crisis say Tokyo knew for months that Islamic State militants were holding two Japanese men captive, but appeared ill-prepared when the group set a ransom deadline and purportedly killed one of them.
Jordan willing to trade Iraqi prisoner for IS hostage
Date January 29, 2015 - 6:52AM
Jordan says it is willing to swap an Iraqi woman on death row for a Jordanian pilot captured by the Islamic State group.
Jordan's government spokesperson said on Wednesday his country was willing to hand over an Iraqi would-be-suicide bomber if a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State was released.
"Jordan is ready to release prisoner Sajida al-Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh was released and his life spared," Mohammad al-Momani, a government spokesperson, was quoted on state television as saying.
The spokesman did not make any reference to Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
Islamic State hostages: Japanese journalist Kenji Goto holds what appears to be a photo of Jordanian pilot 1st Lieutant Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh in a still photo from video posted on YouTube on Tuesday. The Arab subtitle reads, "I only have 24 hours left to live". Photo: AP
Jordan said on Wednesda it was still awaiting proof from the Islamic State militant group that a captured Jordanian pilot was alive, hours after the country offered a prisoner exchange.
"We asked a while ago for proof that hero Maaz (al-Kassasbeh) is alive but we have not received anything," Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh wrote on Twitter shortly before 2am AEST. About an hour earlier he denied that Iraqi female militant Sajida al-Rishawi had already been freed in exchange for the pilot.
IS, in a video released Tuesday, threatened to kill Kassasbeh and Japanese hostage Kenji Goto unless Jordan released Rishawi within 24 hours. According to Tokyo the deadline expired at about 1am AEST on Wednesday.
Islamic State are demanding the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, pictured here wearing a suicide vest. Photo: AP
Rishawi has been on death row since 2006 for her part in triple hotel bombings in Amman that killed 60 people.
Kassasbeh's father Safi and several dozen members of the family's Karak tribe held a demonstration outside the government headquarters in Amman late on Tuesday.
Kassasbeh was captured on December 24 after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria.
"I say to you people of the Islamic State, Kenji is not your enemy. Please release him": Junko Ishido, mother of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. Photo: Reuters
The pilot's father has repeatedly criticised the Jordanian government's handling of the crisis, saying more must be done to bring his son home.
"I contacted the Turkish authorities after I found that the Jordanian government is not serious in the negotiations," he said, speaking after the government raised the possibility of a swap.
"The government needs to work seriously, the way one would do to free a son, like the Japanese government does," the father said.
The mother of Jordanian air force pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh carries a portrait of her son during a protest. Photo: AFP
Jordan is among a number of Arab and Western countries that have joined the air raids against IS, which has seized large areas in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
In Tokyo, the mother of the Japanese hostage appealed publicly to Japan's premier to save her son. Junko Ishido read to reporters her plea to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which she said she sent after both Abe and Japan's main government spokesman declined to meet with her.
"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.
Later, a few dozen people gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence, holding banners and placards expressing their 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, a 46-year-old friend of Goto.
The militants reportedly have killed a Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, and the crisis has stunned Japan.
Although many in Japan are critical of the two men for going to Syria, Goto's friends and supporters have launched a social media campaign calling for his release.
Tuesday's video resembled a message released over the weekend that purportedly withdrew a demand for $US200 million ($250.8 million) ransom for Goto and Yukawa made in an earlier message.
