TOKYO/CAIRO – Jordanian government said on Wednesday in Tokyo, that the country was willing to release a jailed female militant in exchange for a Jordanian fighter pilot held by Islamic State.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
Mohammed al-Mumani, Jordanian Minister of State for Information, said as the deadline loomed for two hostages held by the jihadist militia,and that government was doing all things humanly possible to secure the release of the hostages.
“Since the start of the crisis, Jordan has given the priority to guarantee the safety of Mu’ath al-Kasasbeh’s safety,” he said.
Even though the minister made no mention of Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist who the extremist group was threatening to kill, yet he said deliberation was on going..
In a recording, released Tuesday by the Islamic State, a desperate Goto warned that the jihadist group would kill him and the pilot unless Sajida al-Rishawi was freed from a Jordanian jail within 24 hours, which would be Wednesday afternoon in Syria.
Iraqi al-Rishawi was a would-be suicide bomber who was sentenced to death for taking part in attacks in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people, including guests at a wedding.
She survived because her bomb failed to detonate.
The families of both Goto and al-Kasasbeh have pleaded with their governments to strike a deal and save their lives.
In Jordan, thousands joined al-Kasasbeh’s family to protest against the Islamic State group on Tuesday night.
The militant group first demanded a 200-million-dollar ransom for the release of the two Japanese hostages in a video posted online on January 20.
Its deadline for the payment expired Friday.
The Jordanian pilot was captured while flying a mission over Syria as part of the U.S.led international coalition launching airstrikes against the Islamic State.
The Islamic State has executed many hostages, including Western journalists and aid workers and Syrian soldiers, often releasing videos of the beheadings on internet platforms.(Reuters/NAN)