IS beheads 1 of 2 Japanese hostages, seeks ransom for surviving one

Baghdad, Jan 24: A video reportedly appeared on the internet on Saturday showing one of the two Japanese hostages held by the IS jihadists. The Japanese national, Kenji Goto, showed a picture of the beheaded body of his fellow captive Haruna Yukawa. SITE Intel Group, a body that follows terrorist activities, reported this.

The jihadists have reportedly sought swapping of Goto with an alleged female suicide bomber, who is believed to have links to the attack on a hotel in Jordan in 2005. [Japan vows to 'never give up' search for ISIS hostages]

The bomber, identified as Sajida al-Rishawi, is currently in a prison in Jordan. She survived during the 2005 attack as her suicide belt did not go off. She was captured and confessed to her crime but retracted her confession later. [IS deadline for Japanese hostages passes]

She was given a death sentence in 2006 but she appealed against the verdict and the case is still dragging on.

The Japanese government condemned the act and sought immediate release of the surviving national.
Earlier this week, the IS published a video showing two Asian men in orange dress standing on their knees with a masked man holding a knife standing by.

The outfit demanded $200 million ransom for the hostages' lives, the same amount that Tokyo had pledged to contribute to the USA's campaign against the militants of the Middle East.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government would not pay the ransom and his government vowed to save the two hostages. But Tokyo failed to contact the militants to negotiate the release of the two men.

The IS has executed three aid workers from the USA and UK and two American journalists so far.

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