Japanese scholar alleges errors in Islamic State hostage crisis

Japan's government opened a communication channel with Islamic State in the decisive stages of its recent hostage crisis but was unwilling to use it to start negotiations, according to a Tokyo-based Islamic scholar who briefly became an intermediary.

Hassan Ko Nakata, 54, who police suspected was a recruiter for IS, was asked by the foreign ministry to pass on a message to the group at the peak of the crisis last month, according to Nakata, associates and records reviewed by journalists.

The request, which had not been previously revealed, shows Tokyo appeared ready at one point to talk to the Islamic State to free two Japanese men who had been captured in Syria for ransom, despite public vows not to give in to terrorism.

Islamic State beheaded the two hostages - a self-styled security consultant and a veteran war reporter - days later after Japan decided to team up with Jordan to deal with the crisis, a move that is now under scrutiny.

That decision to work exclusively with Amman, which was also trying to free its own hostage from IS, not only closed communications via Nakata but also effectively ended separate contact that had opened up between the wife of hostage Kenji Goto, 47, the reporter, and his captors.

"The government sidelined whatever private communication channels there were in place and proved unable to establish effective contact with the militants until the very end," said Nils Bildt, president of the security consultancy CTSS Japan