Tokyo is seeking help in the Middle East in a bid for the release of Japanese hostages held by the ISIL terrorists as a three-day ultimatum for a $200-million ransom enters day two.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that the government was using “all diplomatic channels and routes possible... to ensure the release of the two people," who recently appeared in an ISIL video in which a militant threatened to kill them demanding a ransom within 72 hours.
"We are fighting against time, and we'll make an all-out effort,” said the Japanese premier after convening a cabinet meeting following his return from a six-day Middle East tour.
Abe said he was consulting with the leaders in the region as Vice-Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama left the Japanese embassy in the Jordanian capital Amman for an unknown location in the city.
Jordanian media said later that he met with King Abdullah II.
The ISIL footage, which was posted online on Tuesday, showed the two kneeling captives in orange jumpsuits along with a knife-brandishing masked militant who demanded the ransom in return for the $200 million Abe had pledged earlier to support the campaign against the ISIL.
The video identified the hostages as Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.
The ISIL terrorists have been engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their in Iraq and Syria. They have terrorized and killed people of all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
