It's been almost a week since Daesh released an audio recording and still video with a message to Jordan — give up Iraqi prisoner Sajida Rishawi within 24 hours, or Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian pilot Muath Kasasbeh will die.
On Saturday night, Daesh released a video purporting to be Goto's execution, which Japanese authorities are still verifying.
Meanwhile, Jordan is locked into a stalemate.
In the latest, Jordanian Government Spokesperson Mohamed Momani said in a statement that Rishawi would not be released to Daesh until the Jordanian government received proof that Kasasbeh was alive.
Claiming to be the voice of Goto, Thursday's audio recording played over an image of the jumpsuit-clad journalist holding a photo of the 26-year-old Jordanian pilot.
Those 24 hours finished Wednesday evening, ending a day jam-packed with social media rumors, media retractions, empassioned protests — and no deal.
In the early morning hours of Thursday, Daesh issued a new clip, this time promising to execute Kasasbeh "immediately" if they did not receive Rishawi at the Turkish border by sunset on Thursday.
Now, keep in mind there's a lot of players here.
Jordan, whose involvement in the US-led coalition airstrikes against Daesh in Iraq and Syria has drawn criticism from its people, agreed Wednesday to give up Rishawi for Kasasbeh. The pilot was taken last December when his plane went down during airstrike operations in Raqqa, Syria. His parents, part of an influential Jordanian tribe in the western city in Karak, spoke to international media for two weeks following their son's capture in December.
Then there was a country-wide media blackout. This is the first we've heard about Kasasbeh since.
Problem is, the pilot's release was never part of Daesh's original proposition. Now hours after the latest sunset deadline, no official news has been released on either hostage, and Amman is quieter than it's been in days.
Rocked by country-wide protests, frustration and anticipation about the negotiations is as palpable on the ground as it is online, with Daesh-affiliated Twitter handles claiming Kasasbeh has already been killed, and some media reporting negotiations for his release have fallen apart.
This is what the week in Jordan looked like, on the ground and on the Internet.
Early Thursday morning, Daesh released a new audio recording, this time without the typical still image or video of the hostages, which promised to kill both men "immediately" if Rishawi was not presented at the Turkish border by sunset of the same day.
