Horror in Japan as video purports to show hostage beheaded

Appalled and saddened by news Sunday of journalist Kenji Goto's beheading, apparently by Islamic State extremists, Japan ordered heightened security precautions, but vowed not to give in to terrorism.

The failure to save Goto raised fears for the life of a Jordanian fighter pilot also held hostage. Unlike some earlier messages, there was no mention of the pilot in an online video purporting to show an Islamic State group militant beheading Goto, circulated via social media late Saturday by militant sympathizers.

The slaying of Goto, a freelancer whose work focused on refugees, children and other victims of war, shocked this country, which until now had not become directly embroiled in the fight against the militants.

"I feel indignation over this immoral and heinous act of terrorism," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after convening an emergency cabinet meeting.

Junko Ishido, mother of Kenji Goto, speaks to reporters at her house in Tokyo on Sunday. (Yuya Shino/Reuters)

"When I think of the grief of his family, I am left speechless," he said. "we are filled with deep regret."

Threats from the Islamic State group prompted an order for tighter security at airports and at Japanese facilities overseas, such as embassies and schools, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.

He said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on the status of the Jordanian pilot, Muath al-Kaseasbeh. He was captured in December when his F-16 crashed near the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, which controls about a third of both Syria and neighboring Iraq in a self-declared caliphate.

Jordan's government spokesman, Mohammed al-Momani, also declined comment. Earlier this week, Jordan offered to free an al-Qaida prisoner for the pilot, but demanded and said it never got proof he was still alive.

With no updates for days, al-Kaseasbeh's family appealed to the government for information on his situation. But for Goto's family and friends, the beheading shattered any hopes for his rescue.

"Kenji has died, and my heart is broken. Facing such a tragic death, I'm just speechless," Goto's mother Junko Ishido told reporters.

Kenji Goto was captured in October, after he travelled to Syria to try to win the release of Haruna Yukawa. (Masaya Kurosaki/Kyodo News/Associated Press)

"I was hoping Kenji might be able to come home," said Goto's brother, Junichi Goto, in a separate interview. "I was hoping he would return and thank everyone for his rescue, but that's impossible, and I'm bitterly disappointed."

According to his friends and family, Goto traveled to Syria in late October to try to save Haruna Yukawa, 42, who was taken hostage in August and who was shown as purportedly killed in an earlier video.

"He was kind and he was brave," said Yukawa's father Shoichi. "He tried to save my son."

"It's utterly heartbreaking," he said, crying and shaking. "People killing other people — it's so deplorable. How can this be happening?"

Abe vowed not to give in to terrorism and said Japan will continue to provide humanitarian aid to countries fighting the Islamic State extremists.

But the government spokesman, Suga, said Abe would not link the hostage crisis to his efforts to expand Japan's military role in "collective self-defence" with the U.S. and other allies.

Obama praises Goto's work

The White House released a statement in which U.S. President Barack Obama also condemned "the heinous murder" and praised Goto's reporting, saying he "courageously sought to convey the plight of the Syrian people to the outside world."

The White House said that while it isn't confirming the authenticity of the video itself, it has confirmed that Goto has been slain.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent out a tweet late Saturday, says: "Canada condemns the reported killing of Kenji Goto. We'll continue to work w/ our allies to defeat ISIL. Thoughts & prayers are w/ Japan."

Japan's defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the police agency deemed the video of Goto's killing "highly likely to be authentic."

Highlighted by militant sympathizers on social media sites, the video bore the symbol of the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm.

Though it could not be immediately independently verified by The Associated Press, it conformed to other beheading videos released by the extremists, who now control about a third of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq in a self-declared caliphate.

A few dozen people, bundled up against a biting wind, gathered in front of Abe's official residence in downtown Tokyo Sunday afternoon to show their sympathy for the hostages.

"I feel so sad and angry. Why didn't the government rescue Kenji?" said Mayuko Tamura, 31, a pediatrician who came with her husband and their 8-month-old baby.

Candlelit vigil, Sunday services,

In a Sunday service at the church Goto sometimes attended, worshippers prayed and commemorated his life.

"I feel as sad as I did when my own son passed away," said Atsuko Miyakawa, an 89-year-old housewife. "I cried all day long yesterday."

In Jordan late Saturday night, relatives and supporters of the pilot held a candlelit vigil inside a family home in Karak, al-Kaseasbeh's hometown in southern Jordan.

A woman holds a picture of her son, Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who is being held by ISIS militants, in a car during a sit-in in front of the cabinet offices in Amman calling for his release on Jan. 27. (Raad Adayleh/Associated Press)

We "decided to hold this protest to remind the Jordanian government of the issue of the imprisoned pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh," said the pilot's brother Jawdat al-Kaseasbeh, holding picture of Muath with a caption: "We are all Muath."

Al-Kaseasbeh's uncle, Yassin Rawashda, said the family just wants to be kept informed.

"We want to know how the negotiations are going ... in a positive direction or not. And we want the family to be (involved) in the course of negotiations," he said.

Japan's envoy to Amman for the hostage crisis refused comment on details of what went wrong and said he was waiting for further orders from Tokyo.

In a purported online message earlier this week, the militants threatened to kill the pilot if the al-Qaeda prisoner, 44-year-old Sajijda al-Rishawi, wasn't released by sunset on Thursday. That deadline passed, leaving the families of the pilot and the journalist waiting in agony.

Jordan and Japan had reportedly conducted indirect negotiations with the militants through Iraqi tribal leaders, but late on Friday Japan's deputy foreign minister reported a deadlock in those efforts.

The hostage drama began last week when the militants threatened to kill Goto and Yukawa in 72 hours unless Japan paid $200 million.

Later, the militants' demand shifted to seeking the release of al-Rishawi, who is facing death by hanging in Jordan for her role in triple hotel bombings in Amman in 2005. Sixty people were killed in those attacks, the worst terror attack in Jordan's history.

Al-Rishawi has close family ties to the Iraq branch of al-Qaeda, a precursor of the Islamic State group.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Horror in Japan as video purports to show hostage beheaded

Dengan url

http://topstorinfo.blogspot.com/2015/02/horror-in-japan-as-video-purports-to.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Horror in Japan as video purports to show hostage beheaded

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Horror in Japan as video purports to show hostage beheaded

sebagai sumbernya