The 3 People at the Centre
Kenji Goto
Kenji Goto, 47, is a respected freelance journalist who reported from various conflict zones for Japanese media. His last report from the Turkish-Syrian border town of Kobani aired in October. In his final video on YouTube before he was captured he explained why he was heading to Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold in Syria. “Syrian people suffering for three-years-and-a-half – it's enough” he said. Goto, a married father, was taken hostage by Isis shortly after his last broadcast. The latest video from ISIS features a voice believed to be his warning that a Jordanian pilot will be killed by the group if a female militant is not released by Jordan.
Pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh
Muath al-Kasaesbeh, 26, is a Jordanian pilot who was captured when his plane crashed as he conducted US-led coalition air strikes against the group. In statements printed in ISIS' Dabiq magazine, al-Kasaesbeh says he ejected from the aircraft and landed in the Euphrates River, where he was taken captive by ISIS fighters. ISIS claims it shot down the plane with a heat-seeking missile as it was flying near its stronghold of Raqqa. The United States has strenuously denied these claims. Militants are threatening to kill the pilot unless Sajida al-Rishawi is handed over by Jordan at sunset.
Sajida al-Rishawi
Sajida al-Rishawi, 46, has been detained in Jordan for nine years over a 2005 bomb attack at a wedding reception in Amman that killed more than 57 people. Al-Rishawi's husband succeeded in detonating his explosive vest but her belt failed to detonate and she fled the scene. She was later discovered in a safe house and arrested. She allegedly admitted her part in the attack in a televised confession. Al-Rishawi was sentenced to death by hanging following her confession, which she later retracted.
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