TOKYO — Prayers were offered Friday at Tokyo’s largest mosque for two Japanese hostages threatened with beheading by Islamic militants who had demanded a $200 million ransom for their release.
Militants affiliated with the Islamic State group posted an online warning that the “countdown has begun” for the extremists to kill Kenji Goto, 47, and Haruna Yukawa, 42. The extremists gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 72 hours to pay the ransom, and the deadline expired Friday.
The posting, which appeared on a forum popular among Islamic State militants and sympathizers, did not show images of the hostages, who are thought to be held in Syria.
The status of efforts to free the men was unclear. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga was asked about the latest message and said Japan was analyzing it.
“The situation remains severe, but we are doing everything we can to win the release of the two Japanese hostages,” Suga said. He said Japan is using every channel it can find, including local tribal chiefs.
Japan has scrambled for a way to secure the release of Goto, a journalist, and Yukawa, an adventurer fascinated by war. Japanese diplomats had left Syria as the civil war there escalated, adding to the difficulty of contacting the militants holding the hostages.
