Deadline looms as Japan considers ‘all possible ways’ to free Islamic State hostages
Tokyo discounts no method in seeking release before Friday deadline of Japanese hostages held by jihadist militants on demand of US$200 million ransom
Japan said on Thursday it was considering any and all possible ways to seek the release of two citizens held hostage by Islamic State.
The jihadist group, in a video message, said it would kill the hostages within 72 hours unless it receives US$200 million. Based on the video’s release time, that deadline would arrive on Friday.
Time is very short and we are very worried.
Government spokesman and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday Japan was trying any and all ways to reach those holding the hostages, but had not received any message from IS since the release of the video.
Ko Nakata, an expert on Islamic law and former professor at Kyoto’s Doshisha University, told reporters he was able to reach the Islamic State.
“I myself am willing to go to negotiate,” Nakata said.
Asked if Japan would consider that offer, Suga said Tokyo was “prepared to consider all possible ways to save the two hostages,” – 47-year-old freelance journalist Kenji Goto and 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa, the founder of a private security company.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who returned from a six-day Middle East tour on Wednesday, vowed not to give in to terrorism, and to continue to cooperate on providing humanitarian aid to those affected by conflict in the region.
Abe and other Japanese officials have not said directly whether Japan will pay a ransom for the captives – a decision fraught with implications both for Japan and other countries.
HELD TO RANSOM
The issue was raised by British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on Wednesday in talks in London between the British and Japanese foreign and defence ministers.
He “advised that we should always keep in mind what happens next as a result of our acts. He advised there will be consequences if we do not act strongly now,” Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters in London.
Japan has received offers for cooperation in the crisis from a number of countries, including Jordan, where Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama met King Abdullah.
Abe dispatched Nakayama to Jordan to coordinate handling of the hostage crisis, but it was unclear if any progress was being made.
“Time is very short and we are very worried,” Nakayama told reporters after his meeting with the king.
Abe has limited choices, among them to openly pay the extremists or ask an ally like the United States to attempt a risky rescue inside Syria. Japan’s military operates only in a self-defence capacity at home.
But officials are adamant Japan will continue to provide non-military aid to the region.
NEVER GIVE IN
“We will never give in to terrorism,” Abe said.
In past international hostage situations involving Japanese captives, at least one has been killed while most have been released. It is unclear how many times Japan has paid a ransom. The only confirmed case was in Kyrgyzstan in 1999.
Japanese media reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed officials, that Goto’s wife received an email in December demanding a ransom of more than 2 billion yen (HK$131 million).
She exchanged several emails with the unknown person, whose email address was similar to one used by the Islamic State group, the Kyodo News service and other media reported. The messages did not include a threat to kill Goto, it said.
Securing the hostages’ release will be hard, “because all Japanese diplomats left Syria as the civil war escalated,” Tsutomu Ishiai, foreign news editor for the major newspaper , said in a commentary.
“Japan is in an extremely difficult situation. It needs to find a way to save the hostages by getting in touch with religious leaders and local heavyweights who are in a position to make contact with the extremists,” he added.
