I wish he is alive, want to hug him, says father of Japanese captive killed by ISIS

Mangalore Today News Network

Tokyo, Jan 25, 2015: Suggesting that the new video purportedly showing the beheaded picture of one of the Japanese hostages may be highly credible, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has condemned the video calling it “outrageous” and reiterated his demand to release another hostage unharmed.

Speaking to reporters, PM Abe issued a strong condemnation of the IS video, calling it “outrageous and impermissible”.

He also sympathised with the family of the victim saying, "Considering the unbearable pain and sorrow that his family must be feeling, I am speechless".

Meanwhile, Barack Obama who arrived in India today for a three-day visdit, called Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and paid condolence for Haruna Yukawa’s murder by ISIS.

Abe also hinted that the video may be authentic, calling it “of high credibility”.

Earlier, the US and Japanese officials were trying to establish the authenticity of the video that has been shot in a different style than previous beheading videos.

In the latest video that lasts for nearly three minutes, one of the hostages, Kenji Goto Jogo, a Japanese journalist, poses with what he says is the beheaded picture of another hostage Haruno Yukawa.

The Islamic State in the new video has used Goto to convey their new demand, according to which the extremists would agree to swap the surviving hostage with an Iraqi militant imprisoned in Jordan named "Sajida al-Rishawi".

The beheading video comes after the IS’ earlier ultimatum of 72 hours expired on Saturday.

Giving an ultimatum of 3 days to pay a ransom of $200 million, the ISIS had on Tuesday said that the ransom demanded was to compensate for Japan’s ’stupid’ support for the US-led coalition bombing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

It can be noted that Japanese PM Shinzo Abe who is on a Middle East tour, had in Cairo pledged $200 mn in non-military aid to help the countries affected by the blood-smeared offensive by the ISIS in Syria and Iraq, in turn triggering mass exodus of refugees

However, the video shows a still image of Jogo and also lacks the usual attribution to al-Furqan Media Foundation, a primary media arm of the group, says the SITE Intel group.

The Islamic State has earlier beheaded two US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig and also British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning