Japan acknowledges authenticity of IS video

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday branded the murder of a Japanese hostage by Islamic State (IS) militants as “outrageous and unforgivable” and demanded the immediate release of a second captive, amid a tide of global revulsion.

The apparent beheading of self-employed security contractor Haruna Yukawa was announced in a video generally agreed to be credible, and appeared to mark a grave turn of events in a crisis that has gripped Japan for nearly a week.

“Such an act of terrorism is outrageous and unforgivable,” Mr. Abe told broadcaster NHK.

“I condemn it strongly and resolutely,” he said, calling for the immediate freeing of Yukawa’s fellow captive, freelance journalist Kenji Goto.

In a city outside Tokyo, Shoichi Yukawa told of the horror he had felt when he learnt that threats to kill his son had been carried out.

“I thought ‘Ah, this finally happened’ and was filled with regret,” he said.

“I went totally blank, I was only sorry... I had no words,” he said. “In my mind I wish very much that this wasn’t true.”

Obama, Cameron react

U.S. President Barack Obama led the worldwide condemnation of what he called the “brutal murder”. Mr. Obama, who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday for a three-day visit, telephoned Mr. Abe from the Indian capital “to offer condolences for the murder... and to convey solidarity with the Japanese people”, said a White House statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron decried the Islamic State movement’s “murderous barbarity”, and French President Francois Hollande labelled it a “barbaric assassination”.

Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbot called it “an absolute atrocity” carried out by a “death cult”.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the killing as “an odious crime”.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said the beheading “is yet another demonstration that this organisation’s ideology and actions are in breach of all universally recognised values and rights”.

Japan was continuing to analyse the images released overnight to confirm the authenticity of the video, said Mr. Abe, but he acknowledged it appeared credible.

The recording, which lasts nearly three minutes, shows a still image of a gaunt and drawn Mr. Goto holding what appears to be a photograph of Yukawa’s slain body.

It was posted with an audio recording in which a man claiming to be Mr. Goto blames Mr. Abe for his fellow captive’s death because he failed to pay a $200 million ransom.

The voice also reveals a new demand for the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for her part in multiple bombings in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people.

Some commentators have noted that the voice does not resemble that heard on videos featuring Mr. Goto. However, one specialist interviewed by Japanese media was reported to have said it was “more than 99 percent certain” the voice was his.

IS confirms execution

Later in the day, IS’s official radio confirmed that its militants execute Haruna Yukawa, following the release of a video announcing the hostage’s death.

“The Islamic State has carried out its threat... it has executed Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa after the expiry of the deadline given,” the Sunni extremist group said on Al-Bayan radio. — AFP

Source - The Hindu