One of the two Japanese hostages held by ISIS is believed to have been killed their fate remained unknown on Friday.
The deadline for ISIS' demands passed on Jan. 23 ,and now the terror group has released a video which shows an image of Kenji Goto, one of the surviving hostages, holding a photo of the other hostage claimed to be killed, Haruna Yukawa.
The video release on Jan. 24 features a man's voice which claims to be that of Goto's. "You were given a deadline, so my captives acted upon their words," he says. The video further demanded the released of Sajida Rishawi, a woman who is being held by the Jordanian authorities.
A voice says in English:
You have seen the photo of my cellmate, slaughtered in the land of the Islamic Caliphate.
You were warned, you were given a deadline and so my captives acted upon their words.
(Prime Miniseter) Abe you killed Haruna, you did not take the threat of my captors seriously and you did not act within the 72 hours.
Rinco my beloved wife, I love you and I miss my two daughters. Please do not let Abe do the same for my case. Don't give up.
You, along with our family, friends and colleagues in Independent Press must continue to press our government.
Their demand is easy. They are being fair. They no longer want money so you do not need to worry about funding terrorists.
They are just demanding the release of their imprisoned sister Sajida al-Rishawi. It is simple, you give them Sajida, and I will be released.
At the moment it actually looks possible and our government are indeed a stone's throw away. How?
Our government representatives are ironically in Jordan where their sister Sajida is held by the Jordanian regime.
Again I would like to say how easy it is to save my life. You bring them their sister from the Jordanian regime and I will be released immediately. Me for her.
Rinco, these could be my last hours in this world and I may be a dead man speaking. Don't let these be my last words you ever hear.
Don't let Abe also kill me.
On Jan. 23, Japan had said it was still trying to secure the release of two Japanese hostages held by Islamic State militants after a deadline to pay ransom for their release passed and there was no immediate word on their fate.
Upon the video surfacing on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "It was outrageous, unforgivable violence."
