Talks between Islamic State and Jordan over hostages hit deadlock

Talks between Jordan and the Islamic State over two hostages appeared to have broken down, raising fears that the extremists would carry out their threats to murder a Japanese journalist and a Jordanian pilot.

Dozens of people gathered for a second day at sunset on the border between Turkey and Syria waiting for Kenji Goto, a 47-year-old Japanese journalist, to be swapped for Sajida al-Rishawi, an al-Qaeda operative who was jailed by Jordan after her suicide belt failed to detonate in an attempted terror attack.

But the deadline passed with no sign of an exchange and Jordan said Rishawi was still in custody, not on the border as Isil demanded.

A goverment spokesman said that before a deal could proceed, Jordan wanted proof that their pilot, 26-year-old Moaz al-Kasaesbeh, is still alive. Unusually, the pilot has not been seen in any videos since his capture in December.

Jordan's military said on Friday that it was still awaiting proof that the pilot is alive.

Jordan has demanded evidence that the pilot who crashed in Syria on December 24 is still alive before freeing would-be suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi who is on death row.

A Jordanian source with close contacts with the country’s security services said that the talks had not progressed because neither the government nor the military had received any confirmation on whether Mr Kasaesbeh was still alive.

The source said he “feared the worst” after seeing Twitter accounts of Isil members. “Tomorrow (January 30) is King Abdullah’s birthday, and Isil is saying they have a surprise. I am afraid they will announce that Moaz is not alive.”

Mr Kasaesbeh comes from a powerful tribe in Jordan that supports King Abdullah II and the failure of the government to secure his release has soured the relationship. The pilot’s father, a Sunni religious leader in the tribe has openly criticised the Jordanian government for joining the US-led coalition.

Jordan wishes to swap the pilot for Rishawi. But Isil has never publicly said it would release the pilot.

Its only statements have come through recordings of Mr Goto, saying that he would be spared if Rishawi, an Iraqi who was part of a suicide attack team on a wedding in an Amman hotel in 2005 that killed 27 people, walked free.

While Jordan is said to be willing to release Rishawi, there were suggestions that Isil may simply be trying to embarrass Amman. Linda Maayeh, a Jordanian journalist who has interviewed Rishawi through her lawyer in the past said that Isil had never considered her to be an important figure. “She was in jail for nine years and no one said a word,” she said. “They are doing this to put pressure on the Jordanian government.”

At the same time, Mr Kasaesbeh, the pilot, is a very high value hostage if he is still alive.

Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi, an activist with a Raqqa based anti-Isil group said it would be very difficult for the jihadists to release Mr Kasaesbeh: “He was a fighter pilot with the coalition, so if Isil releases him it would make many people inside its organisation angry,” he said.

Over the past two days, the Jordanian and Japanese governments have been pitched by the Islamists into a competition to save the lives of their citizens, while Isil has toyed with the families of the hostages as they struggle to make sense of rapidly changing demands.

Just hours before the deadline expired, Rinko, Mr Goto’s wife, made a her first public appeal for Amman and Tokyo to comply with the jihadists’ demands, saying she feared that they were her husband’s “last chance”.

“In the past 20 hours the kidnappers have sent me what appears to be their latest and final demand,” she said in a statement. “I beg the Jordanian and Japanese government to understand that the fates of both men are in their hands.”

“My husband and I have two very young daughters. Our baby girl was only three weeks old when Kenji left. I hope our oldest daughter, who is just two, will get to see her father again. I want them both to grow up knowing their father.”

Before it changed tack and asked for the release of Rishawi, Isil had asked for $200 million (£133 million) for Mr Goto and Haruna Yukawa, a second Japanese hostage.

The families of the captives had managed to make email contact with Isil, according to a source close to the negotiations, but the jihadists had suddenly dropped a deal and instead reportedly killed Mr Yukawa.

It may be impossible for Isil to offer a proof of life for Mr Kasaesbeh. When he was captured in December, they said they intended to kill him. But a source close to his family said they had received a possible assurance that he is still alive.