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US condemns hostage murder

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has angrily demanded that the Islamic State group release a Japanese journalist it is holding hostage after a new online video purported to show that another hostage had been killed.

While the Japanese government and others cast doubt on the authenticity of the video, US President Barack Obama issued a statement condemning what he called “the brutal murder” of one of the hostages.

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His statement did not say how the United States knows that Haruna Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer, is dead, and the Japanese government was still was trying to verify the video.

Obama said in his statement that the US will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Japan and called for the immediate release of the second Japanese hostage, journalist Kenji Goto.

The Japanese government had no immediate comment on Obama’s statement.

However, a statement issued by Abe in English and Arabic demanded the safe release only of Goto.

The message in the video seen on Saturday demanded a prisoner exchange for the 47-year-old Goto.

But the post was deleted quickly on Saturday, and militants on a website affiliated with the IS group questioned its veracity.

Still, Abe said after a late-night cabinet meeting: “Such an act of terrorism is outrageous and impermissible and causes me nothing but strong indignation. I resolutely condemn this act.”

The most recent message varied greatly from previous videos released by IS, which now holds a third of both Syria and Iraq.

IS had threatened on Tuesday to behead the men within 72 hours unless it received a $US200 million ($A248.23 million) ransom.

Kyodo News agency reported that Saturday’s video was emailed to Goto’s wife.

Abe said the government of Japan will not succumb to terrorism and will continue to co-operate with the international community in the fight against terrorism.

“I strongly demand that Mr Kenji Goto not be harmed and be immediately released,” he said.

Goto’s mother, Junko Ishido, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that in the purported message her son, “seemed to be taking seriously what may be happening to him as well”.

“I’m petrified,” Ishido said.

“He has children. I’m praying he will return soon, and that’s all I want.”

But Ishido also was sceptical about the voice claiming to be Goto.

“Kenji’s English is very good. He should sound more fluent,” she said.

One militant on the IS-affiliated website warned that Saturday’s new message was fake, while another said that the message was intended only to go to the Japanese journalist’s family.

A third militant on the website noted that the video was not issued by al-Furqan, which is one of the media arms of IS and has issued past videos involving hostages and beheadings.

The latest message did not bear al-Furqan’s logo.

The militants on the website post comments using pseudonyms, so their identities could not be independently confirmed. However, their confusion over the video matched that of Japanese officials and outside observers.

 

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