Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted on Wednesday that it was a “race against time” to free two hostages snatched by Islamist militants who are demanding US $200 million for their lives.
A defiant Abe said he would not bow to “terrorism” as he took charge of the crisis that Japan was thrust into with the release of a chilling video apparently showing two Japanese men kneeling in the desert of Syria or Iraq.
“This is a very tough race against time, but the Government will do its utmost,” he told reporters. “I have ordered the Government to use all diplomatic channels and routes possible... To ensure the release of the two people.”
Abe, who rushed home from a tour of the Middle East, said he had sought help from Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, as well as from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.