TOKYO: The mother of one of the Japanese men being held by Islamist militants urged the Tokyo government to pay the jihadists’ ransom on Friday and pleaded that her son’s life be spared.

Just hours before the extremists’ deadline expires, Junko Ishido said freelance journalist Kenji Goto was a friend of Islam, whose life had been devoted to helping children in war zones.

“I say to you people of the Islamic State, Kenji is not your enemy. Please release him,” she said. “Kenji was always saying ‘I hope to save lives of children on battlefields’. He was reporting war from a neutral position.

“The Islamic State group released a video earlier this week in which Goto and another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, apparently knelt in a desert as a British-accented man stood over them brandishing a knife”.

You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200 million to save the lives of your citizens,” he said.

Tokyo believes the deadline will expire at 2.50pm on Friday.

The Islamists have linked the ransom to the amount of cash Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would be earmarking to help countries dealing with the influx of refugees fleeing fighting bet-ween IS and regular forces.

Asked by a journalist if she thinks Tokyo should pay the ransom, as it has in previous hostage situations, Ishido said: “Yes, I very much hope so”. “Japan has maintained a friendly relationship with Islamic nations”.

Published in Dawn January 24th , 2015

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