TOKYO
Japan’s government announced Thursday it is looking into every option to secure the release of two nationals held hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as the deadline for their ransom approaches.
Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary, told a press conference Thursday that the government had not been able to confirm the safety of freelance journalist Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, a security contractor.
"We are exploring every possibility available to save their lives," Kyodo News quoted Suga as saying, explaining that Japan has not heard directly from ISIL.
Meanwhile, a Japanese expert on Islamic law who allegedly has contacts with ISIL has offered to assist Tokyo negotiate for the release of Goto and Yukawa.
Ko Nakata, a 54-year-old former professor at Doshisha University, told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan he wishes to "do everything possible to save [the hostages]."
In a video released Tuesday, Japan was ordered to pay a $200 million ransom within 72 hours to secure the two men’s release. Japanese government sources told Kyodo they were unclear on when the deadline would expire but later said they believed it was 2.50 p.m. Friday (0550GMT).
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called for the unconditional release of the hostages.
Upon returning to Japan from a six-day tour of the Middle East, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Wednesday that he would not bow to "terrorism," the Japan Times reported.
"This is a very tough race against time but the government will do its utmost," he said. "I have ordered the government to use all diplomatic channels and routes possible… to ensure the release of the two people."
Abe said he had sought help from regional leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Earlier, it was reported that Goto, 47, had travelled to Syria to find Yukawa, reportedly captured in August.
Kyodo News said it had spoken to a Syrian guide who said Goto headed to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo last October to look for Yukawa.
The unidentified guide told the news agency that Goto asked the guide to accompany him to the Syrian city of Raqqa, the militants' stronghold and de facto capital.
The man refused and said Goto left on Oct. 25 with another local man. The guide said this man later told him Goto had been captured by ISIL and taken to Mosul in northern Iraq.
Goto reportedly first met Yukawa, 42, a self-styled private security contractor, last April or May in northern Syria. The two had been in contact since.
Meanwhile, Japanese government sources told Kyodo that Goto’s wife received an email last month demanding a ransom of more than 2 billion yen ($17 million).
The online video, which shows a knife-wielding militant standing behind the hostages, is similar to previous hostage videos. As well as hundreds of summarily executed prisoners, mostly Iraqis and Syrians, ISIL has beheaded five Western captives after releasing videos.
But it is the first time ISIL has publicly demanded a ransom and Goto and Yukawa are the group's first Japanese hostages.
The group also holds British journalist John Cantlie and a 26-year-old American female aid worker.
