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Japanese Isis hostage Kenji Goto's mother makes tearful appeal Japanese Isis hostage Kenji Goto's mother makes tearful appeal
(about 2 hours later)
There were no signs of a breakthrough as a deadline for paying ransom for two Japanese hostages held by Isis approached on Friday. The mother of one of two Japanese hostages being held by Isis has made an emotional appeal for his release just hours before militants have threatened to execute him unless Japan’s government pays a US$200m ransom.
With time running short, the mother of one of the hostages, journalist Kenji Goto, appealed for an end to hatred and destruction. Junko Ishido, 76, said her son, freelance journalist Kenji Goto, was not an enemy of Isis, but had been motivated by a simple humanitarian desire to report from troubled parts of the world.
“My son is not an enemy of the Islamic State,” Junko Ishido said in a tearful appearance in Tokyo. She said she was astonished to learn from her daughter-in-law that she had a newborn baby, and said the child needed his father. In very Japanese fashion, she apologised repeatedly for “all the trouble my son has caused”. “My son is not an enemy of Islamic State,” Ishido told a packed press conference on Friday morning. Occasionally wiping away tears, she apologised for the trouble her son had caused and called on the Japanese government to secure his release, even if it meant paying the ransom.
The status of efforts to free the two men was unclear, with hours to go before the presumed deadline. Reports said Goto, 47, had gone to Syria last October to attempt to negotiate the release of his fellow captive Haruna Yukawa, a security consultant who was captured by Isis last August.
The national broadcaster NHK reported that it had received a message from Isis “public relations” saying that a statement would be released sometime soon. “I can only pray as a mother for his release,” Ishido said. “If I could offer my life I would plead that my son be released. It would be a small sacrifice on my part.”
Lacking clout and diplomatic reach in the Middle East, Japan has been scrambling for a way to secure the release of the two men, one a journalist, the other an adventurer fascinated by war. Two Japanese who said they had contacts with an Isis leader offered on Thursday to try to negotiate, but it was unclear if the Japanese government was receptive to the idea. Japanese authorities have been working with several countries in the region to secure the men’s release, but conceded that with just hours to go before the ransom deadline, they had yet to make contact with Isis. The Japanese government considers the deadline to be 2.50pm Japanese time (5.50am GMT) on Friday.
The militants threatened in a video message to kill the hostages within 72 hours unless they receive $200m. Based on the video’s release time, that deadline would expire sometime Friday. Public broadcaster NHK, however, said it had received a message from Isis “public relations” saying that a statement would be released sometime soon.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday that Japan was trying all possible channels to reach those holding the hostages Goto, 47, and Haruna Yukawa, 42, the founder of a private security company. Ishido paid tribute to her son’s “kindness” and desire to help children in troubled parts of the world. She said she had been amazed to learn from Goto’s wife recently that he had left their two-week-old child behind to travel to Syria.
Goto’s mother said her son went to Syria to try to secure a friend’s release, corroborating comments by others who said he was trying to rescue Yukawa, who was taken hostage earlier. “I wondered how Kenji could leave his family behind like that, but he was determined to save his friend,” Ishido said. “But that’s the kind of person he is.”
“Ever since before he learned to walk, my son has been kind to all of the children he knew,” said Ishida, adding that she was “confused by my sorrow”. Ishido said she had been racked by “tremendous grief and confusion” in the three days since Isis released a video purportedly showing a knife-wielding jihadist standing between Goto and Yukawa, dressed in orange boiler suits.
“My son felt he had to do everything in his power to try to rescue a friend and acquaintance,” she said. The masked man, who has a British accent, gave Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, 72 hours to pay a ransom of $200m. This was equal to the amount Abe had recently pledged in non-military aid for Middle East countries fighting Isis, which Abe said included money to support countries hosting refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Suga said Japan had not received any message from Isis since the release of the video. Tokyo lacks strong diplomatic connections in the Middle East, and Japanese diplomats left Syria as the civil war there escalated, adding to the difficulty of contacting the group holding the hostages. In the ransom video, Isis accused Abe of providing money to kill Muslim women and children and destroy homes, an accusation the Japanese government rejects.
So far, the only initiative made public was an offer by Ko Nakata, an expert on Islamic law and former professor at Kyoto’s Doshisha University, along with journalist Kousuke Tsuneoka. Both are converts to Islam. Japan’s foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, said Japan was working with other countries to explain the humanitarian nature of Abe’s aid pledge. But he added: “We will not give in to terrorism. There is no change in our stance of co-operating with other countries to combat terrorism.”
Appearing at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, Nakata, who is also a former Islamic specialist at the Japanese embassy in Saudi Arabia, read a message in Japanese and Arabic. Japanese officials have declined to say if they would pay any ransom, a move that could cause a rift with the US and Britain, which refuse to pay ransoms.
“Seventy-two hours is just too short. Please wait just a bit longer, and do not try to take action immediately,” he said, addressing the militants. “If there is room to talk, I’m ready to go and negotiate.” The government’s top spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said Japan was trying all possible channels to reach those holding the hostages, but added that Japan had not received a message from Isis since the video was released on Tuesday.
Nakata proposed offering $200m in humanitarian aid to refugees and residents of areas controlled by Isis, through the Red Crescent Society. In a last-ditch effort to free the men, who first met in Syria last April, Ko Nakata, an expert on Islamic law and journalist Kousuke Tsuneoka – both converts to Islam – issued a plea to the men holding Goto and Yukawa, 42.
“The Red Crescent Society is operating under the Islamic State’s control. Why don’t we seek Turkey’s mediation and give the money for the people affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria? I believe this could be a rational, acceptable option,” he said. “Seventy-two hours is just too short,” Nakata said in a statement he read out in Japanese and Arabic. “Please wait just a bit longer, and do not try to take action immediately,” he added. “If there is room to talk, I’m ready to go and negotiate.”
A freelance journalist, Tsuneoka was released after being held hostage in Afghanistan in 2010. Nakata proposed offering $200m in humanitarian aid to refugees and residents of areas controlled by the Islamic State, through the Red Crescent Society. “I believe this could be a rational, acceptable option,” he said.
Tsuneoka and Nakata visited Syria in September in an unsuccessful attempt to gain Yukawa’s release. Goto was seized sometime after late October when he entered the area, reportedly while trying to help Yukawa. Tokyo’s most prominent mosque, the Tokyo Camii and Turkish Culture Centre, posted a statement calling for the prompt release of the hostages. It said Isis’s actions were “totally against Islam and have a serious impact on Muslim communities all over the world and put Muslims in a precarious position”.
In his last communication with Isis several months ago, Tsuneoka said it had promised not to kill Yukawa or demand ransom. Ishido said she accepted that some people believed her son had acted foolishly in travelling to such a dangerous region, but said he had gone with only honourable intentions.
“It’s a desperate situation,” Tsuneoka said. “I don’t recall a hostage who survived after appearing on the video.” “Ever since before he learned to walk, my son has been kind to all of the children he knew,” she said. “My son felt he had to do everything in his power to try to rescue a friend and acquaintance.
It was unclear if the two would be allowed to go to Syria, since they have been questioned by Japan’s security police on suspicion of trying to help a Japanese college student visit Syria to fight with Isis. “He went to Syria to rescue a colleague. He thought that if he could speak directly to Islamic State he could make them understand. Our son has devoted his life to helping children … I am asking Islamic State from the bottom of my heart to let him go. He is not in any way an enemy of IS.”
Tsuneoka said they would contact the militants only with a go-ahead from the foreign ministry, and could possibly ask representatives of Isis to meet them in Turkey.
Suga refused to comment directly on their offer, though he said Tokyo was “prepared to consider all possible ways to save the two hostages”. Japanese officials have also not directly said whether they are considering paying any ransom, though the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said their lives were the top priority.
Nakata and Tsuneoka said their contact was with Isis’s current spokesman.
But they said police surveillance and harassment had prevented any communication with him since early October. Abe’s options are limited. Japan’s military operates only in a self-defence capacity at home so any rescue attempt would require help from an ally such as the US.
Japanese media have reported that Goto’s wife received an email in December asking for more than 2bn yen (£11m) in ransom, but it did not contain a threat to kill Goto.
Abe has pledged $200m in aid for refugees displaced by the fighting in Syria. In its ransom video, Isis accused Abe of providing money to kill Muslim women and children and destroy homes, a charge the Japanese government rejects.
Abe aims to raise Japan’s global profile and shift to more pro-active diplomatic and security roles, but this crisis could make the public more wary of greater involvement in the Middle East and other global crises.
In 2004, militants captured a Japanese backpacker, demanding that Japan pull its troops out of humanitarian projects in southern Iraq. The government refused, and the backpacker was found beheaded.