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| Islamic State threatens to kill two Japanese hostages, demands ransom from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe | Islamic State threatens to kill two Japanese hostages, demands ransom from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reportedly cut short a trip to the Middle East after a militant in a purported Islamic State video threatened to kill two Japanese hostages unless the extremist group receives a $200 million ransom within the next 72 hours. | |
| The video, posted on militants’ Web sites, reportedly shows an Islamic State fighter wielding a knife, standing between two hostages wearing orange jumpsuits whom the militants identify as Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa, according to the Associated Press. | |
| “You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200 million to save the lives of your citizens,” he told the camera. | “You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200 million to save the lives of your citizens,” he told the camera. |
| The militant addresses Abe, who has been on a week-long trip with other government officials, demanding cash as compensation for the country’s part in countering the Islamic State. Abe had pledged $200 million in non-military assistance to countries fighting the group. | |
| “To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,000 and 500 kilometers [5,280 miles] from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade,” he said. “You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims.” | “To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,000 and 500 kilometers [5,280 miles] from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade,” he said. “You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims.” |
| Abe responded, demanding the group immediately release the hostages. | |
| “It is unforgivable and I feel strong resentment,” he said from Jerusalem. | |
| A senior Japanese diplomat who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the subject said Yogo, a well-respected Japanese journalist, was last heard from on Oct. 24. He had told friends he was traveling to Kobane, a flashpoint town on the Turkish-Syrian border, but it is unclear exactly where he was kidnapped, the diplomat said. Yogo had been reporting on Syria’s civil war. | |
| “I’m in Syria for reporting,” he told the AP in an e-mail late last year. “I hope I can convey the atmosphere from where I am and share it.” | |
| Yukawa, went missing in August. | |
| “We don’t know what he does exactly,” the diplomat said. “He says he runs a private military company, but we don’t have these kinds of companies in Japan. We believe he is a military fanatic, but he doesn’t have any official military experience. He’s not a fighter.” | |
| “Officially we don’t pay ransoms,” he added. “In some incidents in the past we might have paid but we’d never announce it. I don’t know what will happen now.” | |
| When Yukawa was captured, he was in Syria, trying to find himself. In recent years, he lost his wife to lung cancer. He lost his business to a fragile economy. And he lost his home to bankruptcy, according to Newsweek. | |
| He changed his name to Haruna and attempted suicide. He believed he was “the reincarnation of a cross-dressing Manchu princess who had spied for Japan in World War Two,” Newsweek reported. | |
| In 2013, Yukawa decided to become a security consultant, borrowed some cash and hopped a plane to Syria. He planned to provide consulting services to major Japanese companies in conflict zones. He would start there. “He felt his life had reached its limit,” his 74-year-old father, Shoichi Yukawa, told Newsweek. | |
| In a blog post last summer, Yukawa talked about working with the Free Syrian Army. | |
| “I’m very happy and I too want to quickly meet up with them,” he said. “I want to devote the rest of my life to others and save many people. I want to make my mark on history one more time.” | |
| In the purported Islamic State video, the men kneel as a militant stands between them. | |
| A militant with a British accent has also spoken in beheading videos with slain American hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British hostages David Haines and Alan Henning. This is the first time the group has targeted the Japanese. | |
| The Japanese government told Agence France-Presse it is checking into the threat. | The Japanese government told Agence France-Presse it is checking into the threat. |
| “We are aware of the reports,” an unnamed official in the Foreign Ministry’s terrorism prevention division told the news agency. “We are in discussions on the matter.” | “We are aware of the reports,” an unnamed official in the Foreign Ministry’s terrorism prevention division told the news agency. “We are in discussions on the matter.” |
| But Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the country will not cave, according to the Japan Times. | |
| “Our country’s stance — contributing to the fight against terrorism without giving in — remains unchanged,” he said. | |
| [This post has been updated.] |