TOKYO — Japanese officials have held emergency meetings after the release of an online message purportedly from the Islamic State group warning that a Japanese hostage and Jordanian pilot the extremists hold have less than “24 hours left to live.”
Japanese government spokesman Yasuhide Suga said he had seen the video released Tuesday, without commenting on its authenticity.
The Islamic State group holds Jordanian pilot 1st Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh and Japanese freelance journalist Kenji Goto.
Suga said: “In this extremely tough situation, we are continuing as before to request the cooperation of the Jordanian government to work toward the immediate release of Mr. Goto.”
The video set a Wednesday deadline for a trade to release the two men. Extremists have demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for involvement in a 2005 terror attack that killed 60 people, for Goto.
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