MOSCOW, January 28 (Sputnik) – Jordan has agreed on an exchange of pilot Kaseasbeh held hostage by the Islamist militants, for Sajida al-Rishawi, female suicide bombing suspect who has been in prison for the past decade.
Al-Momani made no mention of Goto.
Earlier today, Al-Jazeera quoted Japan's deputy foreign minister as saying that the prisoner swap deal had been reached and Goto was to be freed "within hours". The
Japanese embassy later denied the comment, as reports IBT Times.
Citizens gather in #Tokyo to express hope for success of negotiations to #FreeKenji @IAmKenji_Offic @kawasaki_akira pic.twitter.com/YEWmuGVgFV
— Meri（メリ） (@merijoyce) 28 января 2015
Japanese officials have held intense daily discussions with their counterparts in Amman for several days, but have said virtually nothing in public about the nature of those talks. Jordan's leaders had come under intensifying pressure from both Japan and Kaseasbeh's family to agree to IS' demand and free Rishawi.
Earlier, in Japan, Goto's mother made an emotional appeal for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to work with his Jordanian counterparts to secure her son's release.
"Please save Kenji," pleaded Junko Ishido in a tearful public statement. "Kenji has only a little time left."
Islamic State' interest in Rishawi possibly is connected to her links to the slain founder of al Qaeda in Iraq, the group which would eventually morph into IS, reports the Washington Post.
