As an apparent Wednesday evening deadline approached, in which extremists again threatened Kenji Goto with death, the freelance journalist's friends, relatives and many others nationwide listened for word of whether Amman would free Sajida al-Rishawi, the Iraqi woman the extremists named as the price for his freedom.
As much as the Jordanian people hope Goto will be released, freeing the failed suicide bomber in any deal would be a difficult proposition for Amman unless the Islamic State group also frees a Jordanian pilot it is holding.
Broadly speaking, Jordanians are as disgusted as Japanese at the brutality of the Islamic State group. But at least one Jordanian resident in Tokyo said his native country would not accept swapping Goto for al-Rishawi alone.
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