Islamic State Militants Say They Killed 2nd Japanese Hostage

The Islamic State claimed to have beheaded a Japanese journalist in a video released Saturday night, the culmination of a two-week drama that appears to have cost the lives of two Japanese men.

The video of the killing of the journalist, Kenji Goto, came two days after a deadline set by the extremist group expired and the Jordanian government did not give in to its demand that a convicted would-be suicide bomber be exchanged for Goto's life.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reacting to the video's release, said Sunday that Japan would not give in to terrorism. President Barack Obama issued a statement in which he said the United States "condemns the heinous murder" of Goto, whom he described as a courageous journalist.

Left unclear by the video, which was posted on a Twitter account associated with the Islamic State's media organization, al-Furqan, was the fate of a Jordanian pilot, whom the extremists also threatened to kill if Jordan did not release the would-be bomber, Sajida al-Rishawi. Japan had not yet authenticated the video. Jordan did not publicly comment.

Jordan had agreed to release al-Rishawi only if the extremists proved that the pilot, First Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh, was still alive. He was shot down over Syria on Dec. 24, during airstrikes on the Islamic State.

The 67-second video released Saturday showed Goto in an orange jumpsuit kneeling while a black-masked extremist, who appeared to be the man known as Jihadi John because of his British-accented English, blamed Abe for Goto's fate.

"Abe, because of your reckless decision to take part in an unwinnable war, this knife will not only slaughter Kenji but will also carry on and cause carnage wherever your people are found," the extremist said. "So let the nightmare for Japan begin."

He then began cutting Goto's neck, but the screen went black and then showed a still shot of his apparently decapitated body, hands still bound with handcuffs behind his back and with his severed head placed on his back.

Abe had promised $200 million in nonlethal aid to countries fighting the Islamic State. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo early Sunday, Abe said Japan would not back down from its policy.

"We will increase our humanitarian aid, including food and medical support," he said. "Japan will resolutely fulfill  its responsibility to the international community in the fight against terrorism."

The extremists had produced a photograph showing the other Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, also beheaded, a week before. The extremists had demanded $200 million to release both men but after a previous ultimatum expired, they said they had killed Yukawa. Then they changed their demand to a swap of al-Rishawi for Goto.

While there was widespread support in Jordan for a swap, officials insisted they wanted their pilot released as well or at least wanted to see evidence he was alive before they would release al-Rishawi, who was convicted for her role in a series of bombings of hotels in Amman that killed at least 57 people in 2005.

The video of Goto's apparent execution began with the extremist's brandishing a knife toward the camera, while Goto knelt and stared calmly at the camera, closing his eyes just before the knife was drawn across his throat. Goto and the extremist appeared to be in a dry streambed.

"To the Japanese government," the killer said, "You like your foolish allies in the satanic coalition have yet to understand that we by Allah's grace are the Islamic caliphate with authority and power. An entire army thirsty for your blood."

The top Japanese government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, called the killing "a terrorist act of extreme brutality." Live television coverage in Japan showed officials rushing into the prime minister's office soon after the video was posted.

Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. National Security Council, said U.S. authorities were working to confirm the authenticity of the video and called for the release of all remaining hostages.

Goto, 47, was known as a respected journalist and the author of five books who knew his way around conflict zones after having spent more than two decades covering them as a freelance television cameraman. He appeared drawn to Syria and Iraq by a lifelong idealistic zeal to cover the plight of the weak, particularly refugee children.

Goto was apparently captured by the militants in late October when he crossed into territory held by the Islamic State, which has taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, in a bid to win the freedom of Yukawa. They met in April after Goto helped negotiate Yukawa's release from detention by the rebel Free Syrian Army during an earlier trip into Syria.

"My son's final act was to go to Syria to help a fellow Japanese," Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, said Sunday. "Please understand his kindness and courage."