ISIS Threatens to Kill 2 Japanese Hostages Unless Paid $200 Million

The terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State has demanded $200 million in 72 hours or they will kill two Japanese prisoners in their custody.

The Asahi Shimbum reports that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking from Jerusalem, has promised to do everything within Japan's power to secure the hostages' release. He also said he was extremely angry about the kidnapping and demanded the hostages not be harmed. He also promised that if the hostages were killed, Japan's policies in the Middle East will not change.

Abe is currently on a tour of Middle Eastern nations Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, and Lebanon. He has promised loans and financing to help build infrastructure and provide humanitarian aid. The $200 million demanded by ISIS is equal to the amount Abe recently pledged to the region while at an event in Egypt.

Japan is not a member of the international coalition carrying out airstrikes on IS positions in Syria and Iraq, but has promised non-lethal support to regional governments.

The video of the Japanese hostages followed the same format where IS threatened and then took the lives of US hostages like James Foley. The hostages are seen wearing an orange jumpsuit and on their knees in a desert area with their hands tied behind their back. In between the hostages is a masked jihadist.

The hostages are Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Goto is a 48-year-old freelance journalist from the Japanese city of Chiba. In Oct. 2014 he traveled into Syria from Turkey, reportedly to the IS capital of Raqqa. He had not been heard from since around that time.

Yukawa established a private security company before traveling to Syria and being taken hostage. He is thought to have been captured sometime in Aug. 2014.