Unconfirmed reports on Arabic media perport Daesh militants have threatened to kill both Jordanian pilot Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh and Japanese hostage Kenji Goto if Jordan fails to release Sajida al-Rishawi within 24 hours.
Al Jazeera's television channel reported Tuesday afternoon that a 24 hour deadline has been given for the release of al-Rishawi, who was detained and convicted by Jordanian authorities when her explosives belt failed to detonate during the al-Qaeda-led 2005 hotel bombings in Jordan's capital Amman.
Following the Al Jazeera report, a video surfaced on a Daesh-affiliated YouTube channel featuring a still image of Kenji Goto in an orange jumpsuit holding a photo of fellow captive, al-Kaseasbeh.
"I'm being told this is my last message, and I'm being told the only barrier to my freedom is just the Jordanian government, [that is] delaying the hand over of Sajida," an audio recording claiming to be the voice of Goto said in the video. "Tell the Japanese government to put all the pressure on Jordan, time is now running very short."
Jordan-based Arabic news agency Khaberni reported al-Kaseasbeh's family received the same audio recording before it was discovered by Al Jazeera. The news comes after a long silence in international and local news regarding the Jordanian pilot, who was captured by Daesh militants in late December when his jet went down near their de-facto capital Raqqa, Syria, where Jordan is participating in US-led airstrikes agaist the group.
Arabic Twitter handles affiliated with Daesh later said that while the Jordanian government's agreement to release al-Rishawi would ensure the simultaneous release of Japanese freelance journalist Goto, it would merely ensure the survival, not the return, of al-Kaseasbeh.
Last week, Daesh releaesed an initial video featuring Goto holding an image of slain Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa along with a warning that the group had abandoned their call for a $200 million dollar ransom from the Japanese government, asking for al-Rishawi's release instead.
Earlier Tuesday, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Jordan's parliament said that the country would "likely" accept a deal to release a prisoner on death row in exchange for a Japanese hostage if the swap also included Jordan's captured fighter pilot, news website JO24 reported.
