Japan waits in wings of IS hostage drama as Jordan agrees pilot swap

Japan has been reduced to an agonising wait on the sidelines of the Islamic State (IS) hostage drama as Kenji Goto’s life hangs in the balance. Mr Goto’s fate depends on the release of failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi by the Jordanian government.

Jordan, however, is understandably more focused on freeing hostage Muath al-Kasaesbeh, an elite pilot shot down in a fighter jet over IS territory. Jordan has agreed to the hostage swap but makes no mention of Mr Goto.

In the latest suspected audio recording from Mr Goto, he said the pilot would be executed unless Rishawi was “ready for exchange for my life at the Turkish border by Thursday sunset”. The 30-second recording made him essentially a pawn in a game of brinkmanship between Amman and the jihadi group, which would score a major coup if Rishawi was freed.

Japanese spokesman Yoshihide Suga said yesterday his government was using “every available channel” to solve the crisis. Privately, though, officials expressed frustration that they were not in control of what was happening, even though a Japanese life was at stake. All they could do was ask Jordan to release a woman convicted of involvement in a mass murder in the hope Mr Goto would be freed, but without the guarantee of getting its pilot back.

Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh has asked for proof that Kasaesibah is alive, a demand that IS has so far rejected, raising the possibility that he has already been killed.

“The Japan government must be feeling marginalised at not being able to affect developments much,” said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University. “On the other hand, what were they going to do before Jordan got involved? The fact that Japan has less control might be a good thing.”

Mr Nakano criticised what he called the clumsy diplomatic efforts of prime minister Shinzo Abe, who wants Japan to play a more muscular role in global security. “Abe wants to be one of the big boys. He hangs around with Netanyahu, then talks to Obama, Cameron and Abbott. Well, that’s not going to help the hostages. The fact that Jordan is in control means now maybe the hostages stand a better chance.”

Mr Abe responded in parliament yesterday to charges that he helped trigger the hostage crisis by promising help to countries fighting jihadi terrorists. His pledge in Egypt last week of $200 million in non-military aid would, he said, “help curb the threat” posed by IS to nearby countries.

“More than 10 million displaced people, many of them children, are battling cold, hunger and sickness [in the region],” he said. “The aid will provide them with the food and medicine they need to survive. Japan will fulfil its duties as a member of the international community by providing humanitarian and other non-military support.”

Mr Goto, a veteran journalist who spent most of his professional life in war zones, has become perhaps the most famous face in Japan since news of his capture began, his haunted features staring out of a string of IS dispatches. His supporters have hung on every tweet and rumour from the Middle East suggesting he was about to be freed.

“We’re getting a lot of confusing information,” his mother, Junko Ishido, said. “Nobody can say at this point what is going to happen. All I can do is hope that negotiations by the governments of Japan and Jordan will help save my son.”