The gruesome video released Saturday by the Islamic State group has shocked the public into learning more about the complex politics of the Middle East and how they can affect the lives of fellow Japanese in an oil-rich region it depends on.
Four Middle East experts in Japan interviewed by The Japan Times all agreed Sunday that Jordan's reaction will be vital in saving 47-year-old journalist Kenji Goto, the latest person to be taken hostage by the Islamic State group.
In the static clip, the extremists claimed that private security contractor Haruna Yukawa, who was being held with Goto, had already been killed, and threatened to slay Goto unless Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, a female suicide bomber now imprisoned in Jordan, is released.
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