WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates, a crucial Arab ally in the American-led coalition against the Islamic State, suspended airstrikes against the Sunni extremist group in December, citing fears for its pilots’ safety after a Jordanian pilot was captured and who the extremists said had been burned to death, United States officials said Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates are demanding that the Pentagon improve its search-and-rescue efforts, including the use of V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, in northern Iraq, closer to the battleground, instead of basing the missions in Kuwait, administration officials said. The country’s pilots will not rejoin the fight until the Ospreys, which take off and land like helicopters but fly like planes, are put in place in northern Iraq.
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It was unclear Tuesday why the American military had not been able to put the requested rescue assets in northern Iraq. After the Islamic State released the video of what it said was the Jordanian pilot’s execution Tuesday, administration officials said Mr. Obama had ordered national security officials and the intelligence community to devote its resources to locating other hostages held by the Islamic State.
A version of this article appears in print on February 4, 2015, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Key U.S. Ally In ISIS Effort Disengaged In December . Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
