IS Sets Deadline Till Sunset for Prisoners Swap via Audio Recording

IS releases audio recording setting a new deadline for prisoners swap at the Turkish border by sunset Thursday, otherwise captured Jordanian pilot will be executed "immediately."

MOSCOW, January 29 (Sputnik) – Islamic State extremists have threatened to kill captured Jordanian pilot Muath Kasaesbeh if their demands for the release of Sajida Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber convicted in Jordan, are not met by sunset on Thursday, CNN reports.

The news agency "could not independently confirm the authenticity of the latest message, which was read by a person claiming to be Goto [a Japanese hostage] and posted online by ISIS [IS] supporters".

The message sets a new deadline for a possible deal with the Jordanian government, demanding that Rishawi be brought to the Turkish border by sunset Thursday, or else Kasaesbeh will be executed "immediately". The message was posted on YouTube early this morning.

The Jordanian foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, tweeted early on Thursday that Jordan had requested confirmation that the 26-year-old pilot was safe but had received no response from Islamic State. CNN quoted Judeh as saying that “of course” Goto’s release would be part of any exchange.

On January 24, IS released a video depicting Kenji Goto holding an image of what appeared to be the beheaded body of another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa. Earlier, IS militants demanded a ransom of $200 million for the release of both Japanese captives.

On Tuesday, a voice in another IS video, claiming to be Kenji Goto, warned that he and Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath Kasaesbeh would be killed within 24 hours if they were not exchanged for Sajida Rishawi, a failed Iraqi suicide bomber facing the death sentence in Jordan.

On Wednesday, a Jordanian government spokesperson said that the country was ready to release the Iraqi bomber in exchange for Kasaesbeh.

The IS, a radical Sunni group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria. It has become known for a number of atrocities, such as public crucifixions and beheadings of captured prisoners, including European journalists.