Japan in bid to verify authenticity of new IS audio release

Japan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday morning was desperately trying to verify the authenticity of yet another audio message purportedly from Japanese hostage Kenji Goto who is being held by Islamic State (IS) terror group and who are demanding an Iraqi terrorist on death row in Jordan be brought to Turkish border in exchange for a Jordanian pilot's life.

The IS had previously made it known in an audio video likely featuring Goto that his life would not be spared if Sajida al- Rishawi, who was convicted for her role in a series of bombings in the Jordanian capital of Amman in 2005 which killed around 60 people, was not released. The suicide bomber was captured and imprisoned as her suicide vest failed to detonate.

In the latest audio message, Goto can be heard insisting that a Jordanian pilot, 1st Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, who IS captured after his plane crashed in December, will be killed imminently if Sajida isn't brought to the Turkish border by sunset Thursday Mosul time.

But the potential prisoner swap deal seems to have become somewhat confused, with Goto saying in a previous video as he held the slain body thought to be another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, who IS beheaded for Japan not paying a random fee demand of 200 million U.S. dollars within a 72-hour deadline.

The government in Tokyo and representatives in Jordan have both struggled to make connections with the militant group in a bid to negotiate the safe release or push for an extension of the hostages, but IS unceremoniously went ahead and beheaded Yukawa, blaming Abe and Japan for its financial support of anti-IS countries, pledged by Abe in speech made in Cairo as part of a Middle East tour, which observers believe may have rattled the militant group.

The goal posts seem to keep shifting as this saga unfolds, with Goto originally saying it would be a straight swap, him for Sajida. But the Jordanians are hoping to release the safe release of their pilot, and for a while, although it looked as though negotiations were shaping up to be a three-way swap, with both Goto, the pilot and the Iraqi would-be-suicide bomber walking free, rumors are rampant in the Jordanian capital with some media outlets stating that Sajida has already been released, while others said the swap had nothing to do with Goto, but had been brokered between Jordan and IS, for the exchange of only the pilot and the Iraqi female on currently on Jordanian death row.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and relevant ministries have been working through the night to try and separate the facts from the hearsay, with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida telling a news conference early Thursday morning that the government had still failed to make strides to contact IS through its diplomatic channels in Jordan, in the first sign that Jordan may be prioritizing its captive over that of Japan's and the initial pledges of cooperation between the two countries, may, as some observers have intimated, waned somewhat, as decisions bordering on impossible have to be made by the two governments.

"We haven't received any information pointing to particularly major developments," Kishida said, referring to a possible exchange between Goto and Sajida.

In response to Jordanian officials who have said on a number of occasions that they stood ready to release Sajida if the pilot is released, Kishida said, "There are indeed many pieces of information swirling. We need to engage in careful and meticulous scrutiny."

Despite the video on Tuesday being tacked with an audio from Goto calling on behalf of IS for a one-on-one exchange between him and Sajida, as per IS requests, with Goto simply stating, "Her for me. A straight swap," a number of Jordanians are now shifting their priority over to the rescuing of their own pilot and it remains to be seen how and if this three-way prisoner exchange will pan out. If indeed at all.

Jordan and the U.S.-led coalition fighting agains IS will be wary that releasing Sajida will be in effect negotiating with terrorists, which some western nations take a very hard line on, and the move would mean that IS, in such a grand gesture, would be reestablishing key alliances and good faith from former Iraq-based al-Qaida factions, a scenario the U.S.-led anti IS coalition would rather not see come to fruition.

But on the fundamentals of the crisis and the killing of the first hostage, Abe said he was livid at such an act of brutality.

"I feel great outrage at this extremely vicious act. We condemn this, Abe said. "It's an extremely tense situation, but the government has been seeking cooperation from the Jordanian government for the release of Mr. Goto as soon as possible, and we will continue to do so," the Japanese PM said.

In addition, Goto's mother Junko Ishido, 78, also made a tearful plea for her son's release at a press conference in the parliament yesterday, saying that she wished, "he could set foot in his homeland again."

She stated again that her son had no ill feelings towards IS in his job as a freelance war journalist, or otherwise.

In a personal letter to Abe, Ishido also implored the prime minister to "save her son's life."

Having beheaded Yukawa, IS have dropped their initial ransom demand of 200 million U.S. dollars, the same amount Abe pledged in humanitarian aid to countries fighting against IS as well as to the Iraqi and Syrian refugees who have fled the war zones and have been left displaced, by Abe in a speech made when he was in the Middle East last week.

Observers said that Abe's somewhat brazen support of anti-IS operations, may have acted as a catalyst in the second hostage taking, that of Goto, as Yukawa was first captured by IS last August.

But the prime minister said Japan's support was purely humanitarian and nonmilitary in nature, despite his plans for Japan to play a more proactive role in contributing to global peace, and, moreover, Abe vowed vehemently to "never give in to terrorism."

This is a line that Britain and the United States want Abe to keep towing, maintaining a zero tolerance policy on negotiating with terrorism, with the U.S. stating that even a hostage swap would in fact constitute making a concession to a terrorist organization and potentially put strains on ties between Tokyo and Washington, the latter who has shown its unwavering support for its ally.

Conversely, France, for example, in the past has paid up to tens of millions of U.S. dollars for the safe release of IS-held French national captives, much to the chagrin of the U.S. and its allies.

But as the crisis reaches a fever pitch, with the 24-hour demand long since expired and the new deadline rapidly approaching, the government here seems none the wiser as to what's going on, or to coin a political term, out of the loop.

Jordan meanwhile seems to be in the thick of it, with local newspapers like Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad reporting that Jordanian officials have confirmed the government will release Sajida in exchange for Goto and the pilot.

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