Jordan on Sunday renewed an offer to swap an al-Qaeda prisoner for a fighter pilot held captive by the ISIS group, a day after a video purportedly showed the militants beheading a Japanese hostage. The fates of the pilot, lt Muath al-Kaseasbeh, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto previously had been linked. The video of the beheading made no mention of the pilot, raising fears for the lieutenant’s life.
ISIS group last week demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an al-Qaida prisoner, who faces death by hanging for her role in triple hotel bombings in Jordan in 2005. Jordan offered last week to release her for the pilot, but the militants didn’t say at the time if they were considering such a deal. An audio message last week, purportedly from the ISIS group, only said the pilot would be killed if al-Rishawi was not released on Thursday. The deadline passed after Jordan said it cannot free her without proof the pilot is alive. late Saturday, the video purportedly showing Goto’s beheading was released.