Japan probes video of hostage being killed by ISILPrime Minister Shinzo Abe says if apparent killing is verified, hostages death would be outrageous and unacceptable. Japan has condemned a video purporting to have been released by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announcing that the group has killed one of two Japanese hostages they are holding for ransom.The Japanese government said on Saturday that the recording appeared to show that captive Haruna Yukawa has been killed. Yukawa, a private military contractor, was kidnapped in Syria last August. This is an outrageous and unacceptable act of violence, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters as he arrived at his Tokyo office early on Sunday morning local time, Reuters reported. We strongly demand the immediate release of the remaining captive, Kenji Goto, he added, referring to the freelance Japanese journalist who was abducted while reporting on Syrias civil war last year.The purported video surfaced after a deadline for Japan to pay the ISIL group a$200m ransom passed on Friday.Al Jazeeras Harry Fawcett, reporting from Tokyo, said the Japanese government was trying to verify the authenticity of the video. There are some [people on social media] who are doubting the veracity of the pictures, Fawcett said.The video was not posted on any of ISILs official channels and does not bear the the groups black and white flag. The group has reportedly now demanded that one of its members is released from custody in Jordan as a swap for the release of Goto. US National Security Council deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement on Saturday that the US intelligence community was also working to confirm the videos authenticity.We have seen the video purporting to show that Japanese citizen Haruna Yukawa has been murdered by the terrorist group ISIL, Ventrell said. The United States strongly condemns ISIL’s actions and we call for the immediate release of all the remaining hostages. We stand in solidarity with Japan and are coordinating closely.On Tuesday, the ISIL group released a video threatening to kill Yukawa, 42, annd Goto, 47, unless they received $200m within 72 hours, directly demanding the ransom from Abe. The ransom video, identified as being made by ISILs Al-Furqan media arm, was released shortly after Abe had pledged$200m in aid to countries to fight against ISIL.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 18:55:16 +0000
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