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Jordan ready to release suicide bomber if pilot released: official

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Jordan on Wednesday said it was ready to release the female suicide bomber if the Jordanian pilot captured by the Islamic State (IS) is released.

In a statement on Jordan TV, the minister of State for Media Affairs said Jordan was ready to release Sajida Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot is set free.

On Tuesday, Jordanian Armed Forces said they were working on verifying the authenticity of the video released by the IS earlier in the day.

According to the unverified video, the Japanese hostage said the IS will only release him if Rishawi is set free by Jordan within 24 hours, otherwise IS will execute him and Jordanian pilot Muath Kasasbeh who was captured by IS after his plane crashed last month in Syria.

Rishawi is an Iraqi woman who has close ties with Abu Musab Zarqawi, the former leader of an al-Qaida cell in Iraq.

The army said it was closely following-up what was mentioned in the video, which it clarified did not refer to their Jordanian pilot.

In the video posted online Tuesday afternoon, Japanese freelance journalist Kenji Goto was featured with a message to the Japanese government.

Goto asked the Japanese government to pressure Jordan to release Sajida Rishawi, a suicide bomber who in 2005 failed to detonate the explosive belt she was wearing and was later arrested and sentenced to death. Endit