The ISIS has released a video, purportedly showing Moath al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot captured in December, being burned alive. The Jordanian government had pleaded to release the hostage in exchange for a captured terrorist.
Images of his apparent murder have been circulated by ISIS supporters on Twitter. They show a man in a cage with a line of fuel leading to him. The fuel is then lit and the cage bursts into flames.
Kasasbeh was offered as a bargaining chip when ISIS asked for a female suicide bomber, held in Jordan, to be released, amid negotiations for the lives of two Japanese hostages. Reports on Monday suggested that ISIS were running out of hostages, and had misjudged the Jordan negotiations.
Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said Jordan was ready to release al-Rishawi if Kasaesbeh was spared, but made clear that she was still being held until the pilot was freed.
"It's not true she has been released. Her release is tied to freeing our pilot," Momani told Reuters. He made no mention of Goto.
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said on his official Twitter account that a Jordanian request for proof that Kasaesbeh was safe and well had gone unanswered. According to national television, Jordan now believes he was executed as far back as January 3, exactly one month ago, though the government has refused to directly confirm the news to Western news agencies.
The video itself, which was posted on social media, but is not being shared here for ethical reasons, appears to have been a carefully staged production, shot from several angles, and sound tracked with religious hymns. It shows al-Kasasbeh being led out into a square in front of a squadron of masked men, before being placed in a cage. A rope lying outside the cage is then lit up, and the hostage is engulfed in flames. The execution is in contrast with the customary beheadings, practiced by the ISIS.
http://youtu.be/k2YTs1rSd-Q
The Jordanian ruling monarchy has been under heavy criticism for its double standards in facing ISIS. While they operate in the US-led coalition to fight ISIS, they have also paved the way for ISIS logistic and financial support to fight the Syrian and Iraqi elected governments.
According to Günter Meyer, head of the Center for Research on the Arab World at Mainz University (CERAW), the terrorist organization sells oil on black markets in Turkey and Jordan.
In early 2013, the New York Times reported what many in the region already knew; that since the beginning of 2012, the CIA had been deeply involved in procuring weapons for anti-Assad forces, airlifting arms to Jordanian and Turkish airports, and "vetting" rebel commanders - all to help US allies "support the lethal side of the civil war". Other reports pointed out that these shipments were actually paid for by US allies, at the bidding of the Obama administration.
As the largely inconsequential US-led airstrikes are carried out in Iraq and Syria, some regional players continue to provide extensive logistical support to ISIL; along Syria's borders with Jordan and the Israeli regime, the Nusra Front continues to collaborate with other extremist militias backed by foreign (including western) powers.