Families of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot remained in limbo on Friday, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group holding them captive.
Japanese officials had no progress to report after a late night that ended with the Jordanian government saying it would only release an al-Qaeda prisoner from death row if it got proof the airman was alive.
“There is nothing I can tell you,” government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters. He reiterated Japan’s “strong trust” in the Jordanians to help save the Japanese hostage, freelance journalist Kenji Goto. Mr. Suga said the government had been in close contact with Mr. Goto’s wife who has been pleading for her husband’s life.
