The Slatest

ISIS Announces New Deadline for Prisoner Release Demand

Safi al-Kassasbeh, father of Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh who was captured by ISIS.

Photo by Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images

With the lives of two ISIS hostages hanging in the balance, the Islamist group set a new deadline on Wednesday for a potential prisoner swap in an increasingly complex negotiation where the ground appears to be constantly shifting. In a new video message from what is thought to be Japanese hostage Kenji Goto Jogo, ISIS revised the timeline on its demand that Jordan release convicted terrorist Sajida al-Rishawi. Here’s the text of the message from SITE Intelligence Group:

I’m Kenji Goto Jogo. This is a voice message I’ve been told to send to you. If Sajida al-Rishawi is not ready for exchange for my life at the Turkish border by Thursday sunset, 29th of January, Mosul time, the Jordanian pilot Mu’adh al-Kasasibah will be killed immediately.

In response to an ISIS video distributed on Tuesday, Jordan agreed on Wednesday to a prisoner exchange saying it would release the Iraqi woman, who has been sentenced to death in connection to a 2005 bomb attack in Amman that killed 60 people, in exchange for the release of a Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who’s being held by the group. The new message, however, makes no mention of releasing the Jordanian pilot.

ISIS said it has killed its other Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa. The group had set a ransom for the Japanese captives at $200 million, but, as the BBC notes, videos released on Tuesday and Wednesday did not mention a ransom.