Jordan seeks proof Isis hostage is alive as swap deadline passes

Jordan said on Thursday afternoon that it had received no word that a pilot captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) was safe. Amman said it would only proceed with a proposed prisoner swap, also involving a Japanese hostage, if the pilot were freed.

"The ultimatum has passed," Mohammed al-Momani, the Jordanian government spokesman, told the Financial Times, referring to a sunset deadline set by Isis for the swap. "What we have said now is that we demand a proof of life and we have not received that yet, which increases the level of suspicion from our side."

Isis is demanding the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for her role in a series of 2005 suicide bombings, before freeing Kenji Goto, the Japanese hostage also being held by the jihadis.

Amman has demanded proof that its pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, held by Isis since his plane came down in Syria late last year, is alive.

"We would like a proof of life, then we can go ahead with the exchange of Rishawi and the Jordanian pilot," Mr Momani said.

"We are following what's happening through our security channels, and we are monitoring all the media and sites related to Daesh (the Arabic word for Isis) to see if anything will pop up."

The apparent delay came just before the deadline for the swap set by the militant group. Isis said in a recording apparently made by Mr Goto and posted online that Rishawi had to be ready for exchange in Mosul, on the Turkish border, by sunset.

In the recording, Isis said if its demands were not met it would immediately kill Mr Kasaesbeh.

Previous messages indicated that Isis was prepared to exchange Mr Goto for Rishawi. Jordan said on Wednesday it was willing to hand over Rishawi in exchange for Mr Kasaesbeh. Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, told broadcaster CNN that "of course" the Japanese hostage was still part of negotiations.

The latest Isis message appeared to represent an attempt by the jihadis to control and force the pace of negotiations over a possible exchange for Mr Goto, while driving a wedge between the governments of Jordan and Japan.

Delivered in English, it said: "I am Kenji Goto. This is a voice message I have been told to send to you. If Sajida al-Rishawi is not ready for exchange for my life at the Turkish border by Thursday sunset 29th of January, Mosul time, the Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh will be killed immediately."

In an earlier video on Saturday, Mr Goto said another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, had been killed after the deadline for a $200m ransom had passed. Mr Yukawa was a security company owner who disappeared in Syria last August.

Mr Judeh said Jordan had begun negotiations through third parties to secure the pilot's release some weeks earlier. He said the Jordanian government had sent messages through indirect channels to the militant group "over the last period" asking for proof of life for the pilot but had not received any.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said Tokyo was working to verify the latest recording and that there was a high chance it was genuine.

"On the basis that Mr Goto is alive, we are putting all our effort into securing his release as early as possible," Mr Suga said. "We are appealing for co-operation through a range of channels."

The crisis has divided Jordan's rulers, who have positioned the kingdom as a key ally in the fight against Isis and Islamist extremism, and the public, who are clamouring for the pilot's release.

Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Beirut

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