TOKYO — Making a desperate plea for her son’s life, the elderly mother of one of two Japanese hostages held by the Islamic State militant group told his kidnappers on Friday that he was not an enemy of Islam.
Junko Ishido, the mother of the journalist Kenji Goto, made her plea during a hastily organized news conference in Tokyo just hours before a ransom deadline. A video posted on Tuesday by the Islamic State threatened to kill Mr. Goto, 47, and another man, Haruna Yukawa, if Japan did not pay $200 million within 72 hours.
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The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, released gruesome videos last year of the beheadings of two American and two British captives. The British-accented masked man shown making the ransom demand to Japan is believed to have also appeared in the footage of those earlier killings.
Austin Ramzy contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
