Haruna Yukawa

An angry Japanese prime minister on Jan. 28 slammed as "utterly despicable" an Islamist militant threat to kill both a Japanese hostage and a Jordanian pilot unless Amman releases a jihadi bomber.
      

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Jan. 25 branded the murder of a Japanese hostage by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants as "outrageous and unforgivable" and demanded the immediate release of a second captive, amid growing global revulsion.
      

The deadline set by Islamist militants threatening to kill two Japanese men unless they were given $200 million passed Jan. 23, after one captive's mother made a desperate plea to save her son's life.
      

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought help from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to free two hostages snatched by Islamist militants who are demanding $200 million for their lives.