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Japan says efforts to free Islamic State hostage deadlocked

A banner with a picture of Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who is held by the Islamic State group militants, is being raised by workers near a tent prepared for receiving supporters, in Amman, Jordan, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. The fates of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot were unknown Friday, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group holding them captive. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) A banner with a picture of Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who is held by the Islamic State group militants, is being raised by workers near a tent prepared for receiving supporters, in Amman, Jordan, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. The fates of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot were unknown Friday, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group holding them captive. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

By Associated Press January 31, 2015 1 min read

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – A top Japanese diplomat says efforts to free a captive journalist from the militant Islamic State group have reached a “state of deadlock.”

The fate of veteran war reporter Kenji Goto has been linked to that of another hostage, Jordanian fighter pilot Lt. Muath Kaseasbeh, whom the extremist also have threatened to kill.

Jordan and Japan are reportedly conducting indirect negotiations with the militants who control a third of both Iraq and Syria.

A purported threat by the militants to kill the pilot at sunset Thursday unless an al-Qaida prisoner was released by Jordan has passed without word on the fate of the two hostages.

Japan’s deputy foreign minister, Yasuhide Nakayama, told journalists in Amman late Friday that “the situation is in a state of deadlock.”