(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The Japanese government was unable to confirm the safety of two Japanese hostages held captive by the Islamic State militants as of Friday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
But the ransom deadline, which the militants set as 2 p.m. Japan time (0500 GMT) and the Japanese government believes around 2:50 p.m. (0550 GMT) expired.
"We are using all available channels to collect information and have received various tips. But we have yet to confirm their safety, thus, the situation remains the same as before," Suga told a press conference prior to the deadline.
Kenji Goto, 47, a freelance journalist, and 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa, a private military company operator were captured by Islamic State militants. Goto went missing in October shortly after posting on his Twitter account that he was in Syria, while Yukawa was abducted by the militants in August.
An online video posted on Tuesday by the Islamic State, showed the two Japanese men kneeling on a rocky hillside with a militant standing between them, who threatened to kill the two unless Japan pays a ransom of USD 200 million within 72 hours.
"The situation is very tough, but we are doing our very best for an early release of the two hostages," the top government spokesman said. Suga also reiterated that Japan would never give in to terrorism and Japan's commitment to contributing to the international fight against terrorism remains unchanged.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened the National Security Council to discuss the issue in the afternoon. The ransom demanded by the militants was the same amount of money as that Abe pledged last week in Cairo during his six-day trip to the Middle East, on promoting efforts against the Islamic State militants, including extending support to refugees from Iraq and Syria.
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