Authorities are to bring convicted terrorist Sajida al-Rishawi to the Turkish border by 5:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET), or Jordanian ISIS hostage Moaz al-Kassasbeh will be executed “immediately.”
Jordan has said it’s willing to swap al-Rishawi for the Jordanian pilot.
But could releasing al-Rishawi lead to the sparing of his life and that of another hostage, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto?
CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the latest message, which was read by a person claiming to be Goto and posted online by ISIS supporters. In the message, Goto purportedly calls for al-Rishawi’s release in “exchange for my life.”
From the latest message, it’s unclear if ISIS is offering anything in return. But previous video posts purportedly from ISIS have suggested the group was offering Goto’s freedom in exchange for al-Rishawi’s.
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The group has made a series of demands regarding the Jordanian and Japanese hostages.
A post from the group on Tuesday announced that time was suddenly in short supply for Goto and the Jordanian pilot.
CNN couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the messages. The Japanese government said there was no evidence so far that it wasn’t Goto who has been speaking in them.
CNN’s Caroline Faraj, Yoko Wakatsuki, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Will Ripley, Junko Ogura, Ben Brumfield and Karen Smith contributed to this report. Journalist Hadeel Ghanboun also contributed to this report.
