Online Video Purports to Show Islamic State Group Beheading Japanese Journalist Kenji Goto.(ABC).
A 66-second ISIS video purports to show the beheading of Japanese reporter Kenji Goto, a gruesome end to a week of failed negotiations.
There was no immediate comment from Japanese or U.S. intelligence officials, but the video appears to show the detached head of the 46-year-old reporter who was captured late last year by the terror group while on assignment in Syria.
The video, titled “A Message to the Japanese Government,” begins with Goto on his knees in a river valley. A masked man with a knife in his hand speaks with a British accent, addressing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“Let the nightmare for Japan begin,” the executioner says as he puts a knife to Goto’s neck.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said the White House is aware of the video and is "working to confirm its authenticity."
"The United States strongly condemns [ISIS's] actions and we call for the immediate release of all remaining hostages. We stand in solidarity with our ally Japan," spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said.
Before his death, audio messages from Goto were published online by ISIS last week, relaying ISIS's offer to free Goto, but only if Jordan released a convicted female al Qaeda member, Sajida al-Rishawi, from death row.
If the Jordanians did not release al-Rishawi, ISIS said through Goto, then Goto and a Jordanian pilot also held captive by the terror group would be killed. The Jordanian government publicly said they would release al-Rishawi, but only in return for the pilot. Read the full story here, more here.
Note: The ISIS audio recording did not promise that either of the hostages would be released in exchange for Rishawi http://t.co/LYCcF60qvA.
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) January 29, 2015ISIS likes to behead hostages, not trade them.
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) January 29, 2015
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