Headlines
Japan says, IS hostage video 'likely authentic'
Tokyo, Jan 25
Japanese government spokesman
Yoshihide Suga said Sunday that the latest video suggesting a Japanese
hostage held by the Islamic State (IS) militants was killed is likely
authentic, Xinhua reported.
He, however, added that Japan was
still analysing is it was the IS which posted the clip. Suga said Japan
will cooperate with Jordan and other countries to secure the safe
release of the other Japanese held hostage by the IS, but added that
Japan still had no contact with the hostage takers.
In the latest
video with photo of Kenji Goto, a Japanese hostage, and an audio
message posted late Saturday saying that Haruna Yukawa, the other
Japanese hostage, was killed.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
condemned the killing of Yukawa immediately after the video was
released, criticising after a ministerial meeting on the issue that the
killing was "an unforgivable act of violence."
The prime minister also demanded the release of Goto and prioritised his safety.
The
latest video came after a clip shown Tuesday by IS militants demanding
$200 million in ransom for the two Japanese hostages within 72 hours,
the same amount pledged by Abe to the Middle East region to fight
against the IS.
The video also said that the IS militants
demanded the release of a female IS member imprisoned in Jordan. The
prisoner reportedly launched a suicidal attack in Jordan in 2005 and
killed about 50 people.
Secretary General of the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party Sadakazu Tanigaki said Sunday that the government finds
it "not easy to deal with" the IS's fresh demand as there is a rule
against nations reaching deals with terrorists, according to Japan's
Kyodo News.
Shoichi Yukawa, 74-year-old father of Haruna, told reporters that he was "distressed" by the latest development.
On
Friday, Goto's mother also made a tearful press conference begging the
release of her son and stressing that Goto is not an enemy of the
Islamic faith. She also asked the Japanese government to try to save
Goto.
Japan has set up a task force in Amman, Jordan, to deal with the hostage crisis.
Yukawa
reportedly entered Syria in July last year from southern Turkey. He is
said to have been travelling to Syria and Iraq, including conflict
areas, to set up bases for his Tokyo-based company, the report said.
Goto, an acquaintance of Yukawa, went missing in October after he left for Syria to look for Yukawa.