Jordan committed to anti-IS coalition
Some Jordanians opposed to airstrikes against fellow Muslims
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan remains “as committed as ever” to a U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State group, the kingdom’s foreign minister said Sunday, amid heightened fears for the life of a Jordanian fighter pilot held by the militants.
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh spoke a day after another Islamic State hostage, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, was purportedly beheaded by the militants. The fate of the two captives had been linked but a video of Goto’s purported slaying made no mention of the pilot.
The failure to save Goto raised new concerns about the fate of the pilot, Lt. Muath alKaseasbeh. Jordan’s government renewed an offer Sunday to trade Sajida al-Rishawi, an al-Qaida prisoner, for the pilot. Al-Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber, faces death by hanging in Jordan for her role in a 2005 hotel attack that killed 60 people.
The Islamic State group demanded her release last week, and in response Jordan offered to swap her for the pilot. But the militants didn’t say at the time if they were considering such a deal.
An audio message last week, purportedly from the Islamic State group, only said the pilot would be killed if al-Rishawi was not released Thursday.
That deadline passed, with al-Rishawi remaining in custody, after Jordan said it can- not free her without proof that the pilot is alive.
Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said Sunday that “we are still ready to hand over” al-Rishawi in return for the pilot. However, Judeh, the foreign minister, said that “so far, we have seen no proof of life, which we have been asking for.”
Judeh said Jordan, a staunch Western ally, is not secondguessing its participation in the military coalition over the hostage drama.
“We have said before, and we continue to say, that this is our fight and we are in this together for the long haul and we are as committed as ever,” he told the CBS program “Face the Nation” by phone from Jordan.
The coalition has been attacking Islamic State targets from the air since September. The militants control about one-third each of Syria and Iraq which border Jordan.
Al-Kaseasbeh, 26, fell into the hands of the militants in December when his F-16 crashed near Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group.
His capture has left Jordan with tough choices.
Jordan’s king has portrayed the campaign against the extremists as a battle over values. In a statement carried by the official news agency Petra on Sunday, he called for “concerted international efforts against terrorism and extremism.”
However, Jordan’s participation in airstrikes against fellow Muslims is not popular among Jordanians.
Experts are divided over whether Jordan faces a greater threat from extremists outside its borders or from those within. In recent months, there have been signs of greater support for the Islamic State group’s ideas among Jordan’s young and poor.