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Tokyo - Japan was studying the latest message purportedly from ISIS, which extends the deadline for Jordan's release of an Iraqi prisoner, while officials worked feverishly on Thursday to try to free a Japanese journalist held by the militant group.
The message, read in English by a voice the Japanese government said was likely that of hostage Kenji Goto, was released online late on Wednesday after Jordan offered to hand over the al-Qaeda-linked would-be suicide bomber to ISIS in exchange for Jordanian air force pilot Mu'as al-Kasaseabeh. The militants have purportedly threatened to kill him and Goto.
The recording says Jordan must present Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman convicted of involvement in deadly Amman hotel bombings in 2005, at the Turkish border by sunset on Thursday, or the pilot will be killed.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the contents of the recording, which was distributed on Twitter by ISIS affiliated accounts.
In Tokyo, Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday the government was analyzing the message. He said Japan was doing its utmost to free Goto, working with nations in the region, including Turkey, Jordan and Israel.
$200m ransom
"We are trying to confirm [the message], but we think there is a high probability that this is Mr Goto's voice," he said.
Suga refused comment on the specifics of the talks with Jordan, saying the situation was developing. The Cabinet met to assess the latest developments, but did not issue any updates.
Efforts to free al-Kaseasbeh and Goto gained urgency after a purported online ultimatum claimed on Tuesday that the Islamic State group would kill both hostages within 24 hours if Jordan did not free al-Rishawi.
Japan has scrambled to deal with the crisis that began last week with the release of a video by the ISIS showing Goto and another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, kneeling in orange jumpsuits between a masked man who threatened to kill them within 72 hours unless Japan paid a $200m ransom.
That demand has since shifted to one for the release of al-Rishawi. The militants have reportedly have killed Yukawa, aged 42, although that has not been confirmed.
"This heinous terrorist act is totally unforgivable," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in parliament on Thursday.
Goto, a freelance journalist, was captured in October in Syria, apparently while trying to rescue Yukawa, who was taken hostage last summer.
In Tokyo, Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, has been desperately pleading for the government to save her son.
"Kenji has only a little time left," she said on Wednesday.
In his announcement that Jordan is ready to trade al-Rishawi for the pilot, government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani made no mention of Goto.
Serious effort
Releasing the would-be hotel bomber linked to al-Qaeda would breach Jordan's usual hard-line approach to the extremists and set a precedent for negotiating with them.
It would also be a coup for ISIS, which has already overrun large parts of neighbouring Syria and Iraq. Jordan is part of a US-led military alliance that has carried out airstrikes against the extremist group in Syria and Iraq in recent months.
ISIS has not publicly demanded prisoner releases before and Jordan's main ally, the United States, opposes negotiations with extremists.
Jordanian King Abdullah II faces growing domestic pressure to bring the pilot home. The pilot's father said he met on Wednesday with Jordan's king, who he said assured him that "everything will be fine."
The pilot's capture has hardened popular opposition among Jordanians to the air strikes, analysts said
"Public opinion in Jordan is putting huge pressure on the government to negotiate with ISIS," said Marwan Shehadeh, a scholar with ties to ultra-conservative Islamic groups in Jordan. "If the government doesn't make a serious effort to release him, the morale of the entire military will deteriorate and the public will lose trust in the political regime."
Jordan reportedly is holding indirect talks with the militants through religious and tribal leaders in Iraq to secure the release of the hostages. In his brief statement, al-Momani only said Jordan is willing to swap al-Rishawi for the pilot. He did not say if such an exchange is being arranged.
The 26-year-old pilot, al-Kasaseabeh, was seized after his Jordanian F-16 crashed in December near the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria. He is the first foreign military pilot the militants have captured since the coalition began its airstrikes in August.
Previous captives may have been freed in exchange for ransom, although the governments involved have refused to confirm any payments were made.
ISIS broke with al-Qaeda’s central leadership in 2013 and has clashed with its Syrian branch, but it reveres the global terror network's former Iraqi affiliate, which battled US forces and claimed the 2005 Amman attack.
