ISIS demands $200M for Japanese hostages, but Japan’s Prime Minister will not give in to terrorism
Japan’s government vowed not to give in to terrorism after Islamic State militants released a videotaped threat to kill two Japanese citizens held hostage.
A man wearing in black and with a translation in British accent said, in a video posted online Tuesday, that unless $200 million is paid to his group, two Japanese men will be executed. The two captives are identified as Kenji Goto, who previously reported for Japanese news broadcasters from war zones. Goto last year assisted the man who is now his fellow hostage, Haruna Yukawa, who once ran a military clothing and accessories store.
In the released video, the knife-wielding man is seen standing between the two Japanese; who are in orange jumpsuits, kneeling on the desert ground. The man said unless Japan pays the money within 72 hours,
This knife will become your nightmare.
Traveling in the Middle East, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was defiant hours after the video’s release, issuing a “strong demand” for the release of the Japanese men.
The report in Jerusalem is that Prime Minister Abe stated, the demand to pay ransom in exchange for the lives of the hostages is ‘unforgivable’. Abe says that Japan will not give in to terrorism. During a visit to Cairo Saturday, as part of a $2.5 billion Middle East aid package, Abe pledged $200 million in nonmilitary assistance for countries fighting against the Islamic State group.
-Infinite Wiz (@InfiniteWiz)
