Japan Attempts to Verify Video Claiming ISIS Have Beheaded one Japanese Prisoner and Demanding Release of Female Suicide Bomber in Exchange for Life of the Second
- Audio recording purporting to be from Kenji Goto, 47, has surfaced online
- In it voice claims fellow captive Haruna Yukawa has already been executed
- Says ISIS are demanding release of attempted bomber Sajida al-Rishawi
- Rishawi is currently in prison in Jordan facing the death penalty
- Japanese government condemns video but cannot confirm if it is genuine
Daily Mail UK, 24 January 2015
The Japanese government has branded a new audio recording purporting to be from one of the hostages pictured with Jihadi John 'outrageous and disgusting', but cannot confirm if it is genuine.
In the recording, a voice claiming to be that of Kenji Goto,(center), 47, one of the Japanese men who appeared in the latest Jihadi John video, says his fellow captive Haruna Yukawa (left) has been killed.
He blames the death on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and says he will be killed as well if ISIS's new demand to release a failed female suicide bomber Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, (right) is not met.
Quote:
WHO IS SAJIDA AL-RISHAWI?
Sajida al-rishawi gained notoriety in 2005 after confessing on Jordanian television that she tried to blow herself up alongside her husband in an Al Qaeda attack in Amman, Jordan.
The failed suicide bomber's chilling confession came after she was arrested when her bomb belt failed to detonate at the Radisson Hotel, a building commonly frequented by diplomats.
Appearing in a headscarf and a long black coat, she said:
'We went into the hotel. He (my husband) took a corner and I took another.
'My husband executed the attack. I tried to detonate and it failed. People started running and I ran with them.'
Rishawi's husband and two other suicide bombers belonging to Al Qaeda in Iraq killed themselves and 60 other people in the three simultaneous attacks at the Hyatt, Radisson and Days Inn hotels.
Following her capture and confession, she was sentenced to death.
Despite later retracting the confession and appealing her sentence, she remains imprisoned in Jordan.
|
The Japanese government has condemned the message, but say they cannot verify its authenticity after allegations that the Jihadi John video was also stitched together from several recordings.
Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said cabinet ministers were holding an emergency meeting about the new message.
In a televised statement he added:
'We strongly demand the prompt release of the remaining captive Mr. Kenji Goto, without harm.'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe added 'I have a strong sense of anger,' before reiterating that Japan 'will not give in to terrorism.'
The post comes four days after ISIS released a video demanding the Japanese government pay $200million within 72 hours for the hostages' release.
The new recording claims the terrorists no longer want the money.
The audio recording is accompanied by a still image showing Mr Goto apparently holding a picture of Mr Yukawa's beheaded body.
However, the arms holding the paper appear to have been doctored on to the body, leading to speculation that the whole recording is an elaborate hoax.
Patrick Ventrell, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said U.S. intelligence officials were working also to confirm whether it was authentic. 'We stand in solidarity with Japan and are coordinating closely,' he said, and called for the immediate release of people held by the Islamic State group.
Kyodo News agency reported that the video has been emailed to the wife of one of the hostages.
If the video does turn out to be genuine, then it would be a radical departure from the Islamic State's usual method of operations.
ISIS typically uses high-definition video recordings to make its threats, usually recorded somewhere in the desert, though to be located in the area around Raqqa in Syria.
The latest clip is accompanied by Arabic subtitles, as is standard for ISIS videos, but is missing the black and white jihadi flag that appears on all other ISIS propaganda.
In most recordings it is only usually Jihadi John, the masked executioner, who speaks. The hostages typically only recite a short, scripted message before they are killed.
However in this case, the man claiming to be Mr Goto narrates a two-minute message in which he issues a heartfelt plea to his wife.
Twitter users have also suggested that Mr Goto sounds different in this video compared to previous footage before he was kidnapped.
In the latest recording he says in English:
'You have seen the photo of my cellmate, slaughtered in the land of the Islamic Caliphate.
'You were warned, you were given a deadline and so my captives acted upon their words. (Prime Miniseter) Abe you killed Haruna, you did not take the threat of my captors seriously and you did not act within the 72 hours.'
He then speaks directly to his wife, who he names as Rinco, asking her to listen to the captors new demands.
He continues:
'Their demand is easy. They are being fair. They no longer want money so you do not need to worry about funding terrorists.
'They are just demanding the release of their imprisoned sister Sajida al-Rishawi. It is simple, you give them Sajida, and I will be released.
'At the moment it actually looks possible and our government are indeed a stone's throw away.
'Our government representatives are ironically in Jordan where their sister Sajida is held by the Jordanian regime.'
The video, which lasts nearly three minutes, was quickly deleted on Saturday after it was posted.
Jihadis on a website affiliated with the regime also disagreed about the message's authenticity.
One militant on the website warned that the new message was fake, while another said that the message was intended only to go to the Japanese journalist's family.
A third militant noted that the video was not issued by al-Furqan, one of the media arms of the Islamic State and the message did not bear al-Furqan's logo.
In the audio clip the man claiming to be Mr Goto says ISIS are demanding the release of Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, an attempted suicide bomber who is currently being held by the regime
Mr Goto, pictured, is a war correspondent with experience in Middle East hot spots. He went to Syria in late October to try to help Mr Yukawa, who was described as a friend, after he was captured in Aleppo in August
Suspicion is running high over the latest tape after the video footage of Mr Goto and Mr Yukawa kneeling in the desert beside Jihadi John was also branded a fake.
Experts said the footage was likely stitched together from several recordings as the shadows cast on the ground and on the captive's faces are all falling in different directions.
Another giveaway is their shirts, which do not blow in the breeze at the same time, but instead move at different points in the video.
Tsuyoshi Moriyama, an associate professor at Tokyo Polytechnic University and image technology expert, said:
'It's possible that video images taken at different times were combined.
'A very high level of knowledge and skill would be necessary to make such a composite video.'
Shiego Mori-shima, a Waseda University Professor on information-communication engineering, agreed, noting the jumpsuits were different shades of orange.
Yukawa, aged around 42 and who dreamed of becoming a military contractor, was captured in August outside the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Goto, 47, a war correspondent with experience in Middle East hot spots, went to Syria in late October to try to help Yukawa.
Just yesterday Junko Ishido, Mr Goto's mother, issued a tearful appeal for her son to be released.
Speaking at a press conference, she said:
'I say to you people of the Islamic State, Kenji is not your enemy. Please release him.
'Kenji was always saying 'I hope to save lives of children on battlefields'. He was reporting war from a neutral position.'
If Mr Yukawa is confirmed killed, he will join growing list of Jihadi John's victims, that includes British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.
Also killed by the masked murderer were American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig.
Quote:
THREATS, RANSOM DEMANDS, AND A PLEA TO HIS WIFE: NEW AUDIO RECORDING IN FULL... BUT IS IT A FAKE?
You have seen the photo of my cellmate, slaughtered in the land of the Islamic Caliphate.
You were warned, you were given a deadline and so my captives acted upon their words.
(Prime Minister Shinzo) Abe you killed Haruna, you did not take the threat of my captors seriously and you did not act within the 72 hours.
Rinco, my beloved wife, I love you and I miss my two daughters. Please do not let Abe do the same for my case. Don't give up.
You, along with our family, friends and colleagues in Independent Press must continue to press our government.
Their demand is easy. They are being fair. They no longer want money so you do not need to worry about funding terrorists.
They are just demanding the release of their imprisoned sister Sajida al-Rishawi. It is simple, you give them Sajida, and I will be released.
At the moment it actually looks possible and our government are indeed a stone's throw away. How?
Our government representatives are ironically in Jordan where their sister Sajida is held by the Jordanian regime.
Again I would like to say how easy it is to save my life. You bring them their sister from the Jordanian regime and I will be released immediately. Me for her.
Rinco, these could be my last hours in this world and I may be a dead man speaking. Don't let these be my last words you ever hear.
Don't let Abe also kill me.
|