AMMAN // Jordan offered yesterday to free a woman jailed for a deadly bomb attack in exchange for an air force pilot held by ISIL.
“Jordan is ready to release the prisoner Sajida Al Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot is freed unharmed,” a government spokesman in Amman said.
“From the start, the position of Jordan was to ensure the safety of our son, the pilot Maaz Al Kassasbeh.”
ISIL released a video on Tuesday in which it threatened to kill Lt Al Kassasbeh and the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto unless Al Rishawi was freed within 24 hours.
Tokyo sought Jordan’s help after an ISIL video released at the weekend said another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, had been beheaded.
Japan has sent its deputy foreign minister Yasuhide Nakayama to Amman to head an emergency response team.
Al Rishawi has been on death row since 2006 for her part in triple hotel bombings in Amman that killed 60 people.
Lt Al Kassasbeh was captured on December 24 after his F-16 jet crashed on a mission over northern Syria.
Jordan is among a number of Arab and western countries that have joined US-led air raids against ISIL, which has seized large areas in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
The pilot’s father Safi Kassasbeh and Goto’s mother urged their governments to save the two men’s lives.
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said the 24-hour deadline was “an utterly despicable act, and I am appalled”.
“The government, in this extremely serious situation, has been asking for the Jordanian government’s cooperation towards the early release of Mr Goto, and this policy remains unchanged,” Mr Abe said..
Goto’s mother, Junko Ishido, was at Japan’s parliament yesterday in a failed attempt to meet the prime minister. After being refused an appointment with Mr Abe, she issued a plea for her son’s life through media gathered there.
“Prime minister Shinzo Abe,” Ms Ishido said. “Please continue your utmost efforts in negotiating with the Jordanian government until the last minute. There is not much time left.”
Her anguish was mirrored in Jordan where Lt Al Kassasbeh’s father and several dozen members of the family’s Karak tribe held a demonstration outside government headquarters in Amman late on Tuesday.
They held his picture and a slogan reading: “We are all Maaz.”
“We have only one request, Maaz’s return at any price,” Safi Kassasbeh said.
In the latest video, Goto, a respected war reporter, is seen holding a photograph of Lt Al Kassasbeh, while a voice-over – purportedly spoken by the Japanese hostage – warns that Jordan is blocking his release.
However, any suggestion of a swap will probably face resistance from the United States.
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said this week that a prisoner exchange was “in the same category” as paying a ransom.
ISIL has previously beheaded two US reporters, an American aid worker and two British aid workers, and committed numerous atrocities including mass executions, but the killing of Yukawa was the first time a Japanese citizen had been targeted.
* Agence France-Presse
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
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