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 Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani made no mention of
Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, a veteran war reporter who is also
being held by the militant group.
"Jordan is ready to release prisoner Sajida al-Rishawi if the
Jordanian pilot Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh is released and his
life spared," Momani was quoted on state television as saying.
Kasaesbeh was captured after his jet crashed in northeastern Syria
in December during a bombing mission against Islamic State.
His fate was thought to be tied to that of Goto after a video was
released on Tuesday purporting to show the Japanese national saying
he had 24 hours to live unless Jordan released al-Rishawi.
The voice on the video said Kasaesbeh had a shorter time to live.
Japan confirmed the existence of the video at 11 p.m. (0900 ET) on
Tuesday.
Momani said Jordan's priority was to secure the release of the
pilot, who hails from an important Jordanian tribe that forms the
backbone of support for the Hashemite monarchy.
 Several hundred people, including Kasaesbeh's relatives, gathered in
front of the office of Jordan's prime minister on Tuesday, urging
authorities to meet the demands of Islamic State.
Al-Rishawi has been held in Jordan over her role in a suicide
bombing that killed 60 people in the capital Amman.
MOTHER'S PLEA
In Japan, a spokesman at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office said he
had no immediate comment on the Jordanian statement.
The hostage taking presents Abe with his biggest diplomatic crisis
since taking office two years ago, and there has been a flurry of
unconfirmed reports in Japanese media that a swap deal involving
Goto might be in the works.
Goto's mother, speaking before Jordan made its announcement,
appealed for his life.
"Please save Kenji's life. I call on you to work with all your
strength in negotiations with the Jordanian government," Junko
Ishido said in a letter to Abe that she read out at a news
conference.
"His remaining time is very short ... I beg you to do everything in
your power," Ishido said, reiterating that her son was not an enemy
of Islam.
Abe said the latest video was "despicable". He called on Jordan to
cooperate in working for Goto's quick release, but vowed Tokyo would
not give in to terrorism.
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Goto went to Syria in late October. According to friends and
business associates, he was attempting to secure the release of
Haruna Yukawa, his friend and fellow Japanese citizen who was
captured in August.
In the first of three videos purportedly of Goto, released last
week, a black-clad masked figure with a knife said Goto and Yukawa
would be killed within 72 hours if Japan did not pay Islamic State
$200 million.
The captor resembled a figure from previous Islamic State videos
whose threats have preceded beheadings.
A video on Saturday appeared to show Goto with a picture of a
beheaded Yukawa, saying his captors' demands had switched to the
release of al-Rishawi.
Tuesday's video featured an audio track over a still picture that
appeared to show Goto holding a picture of now bearded Kasaesbeh.
Officials involved in the crisis say Tokyo knew for months that
Islamic State militants were holding two Japanese men captive, but
appeared ill-prepared when the group set a ransom deadline and
purportedly killed one of them.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies, Takashi Umekawa, Kevin
Krolicki, Nobuhiro Kubo and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo, Oliver Holmes
in Beirut, Ali Abdelatty and Mostafa Hashem in Cairo, Suleiman
Al-Khalidi in Amman; Writing by Mike Collett-White and Linda Sieg;
Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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