Negotiations to Free Japanese Hostage Held by ISIS Collapse

Negotiations between the government of Jordan and the Islamic State to secure the lives of a downed Jordanian fighter pilot and a Japanese hostage seem to have failed.

The New York Times reports that ISIS promised to release the pilot and Japanese hostage in exchange for Sajida al-Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber of Iraqi origin. A swap between ISIS the Jordanian government was scheduled for sunset Jan. 29. It was supposed to take place at the Turkish-Syrian border, but ISIS failed or refused to provide proof of life for the Jordanian pilot. ISIS said that they would release the Japanese hostage and promise not to kill the pilot in exchange for Rishawi's freedom.

Rishawi is a 46-year-old woman who participated in a 2005 bombing in Amman, Jordan, that left nearly 60 people dead. Rishawi was part of a suicide attack with her husband, but when she tried to detonate her bomb, it failed to go off and she was apprehended. She was sentenced to death and later said she sought to avenge the deaths of her first husband and three brothers at the hands of American soldiers during the Iraq War.

The Jordanian pilot is Moaz al-Kassasbeh. CNN reports he is a 27-year-old lieutenant. He is one of eight children and is said to have memorized the Quran. ISIS claims that they shot the down al-Kassasbeh's F-16, but the US and Jordanian governments have strongly denied that series of events.

The Japanese hostage is a freelance journalist named Kenji Goto. Goto is one of two Japanese hostages taken by ISIS, and he is now the only one left alive. ISIS recently killed the other hostage and posted the video online in their brutal fashion.