MIDEAST-CRISIS/JORDAN-RALLY Jordanians rally in Amman to express solidarity with captured pilot

Record ID: 214864

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/JORDAN-RALLY Jordanians rally in Amman to express solidarity with captured pilot
  • Date: 26th January 2015
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (JANUARY 26, 2015) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATORS GATHERED OUTSIDE THE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION COMPLEX MEN HOLDING BANNERS READING (Arabic): "WE ARE ALL MUATH. THIS IS NOT OUR WAR. LET HIM BE FREE." VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING PHOTOGRAPHS OF MUATH AL-KASAESBEH MAN SPEAKING AT PODIUM PEOPLE STOOD DURING RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEPUTY, JAMIL AL NIMRI, SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 10th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7OEJT7Y0W3LQ7ONE9QXDZMB0
  • Story Text: Around 100 protesters gathered in Amman on Monday (January 26) to express solidarity with the Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh, captured by Islamic State (IS) militants in December.
    First Lieutenant al-Kasaesbeh's jet crashed on December 24, 2014, in a rural area in Syria's Raqqa province, the group's stronghold. Jordan's government at first said the crash could have been the result of a missile attack but later it said there was no proof to support that theory.
    The 26-year-old pilot, who comes from a prominent Jordanian Sunni Muslim family, is the first captive known to have taken from the U.S.-led coalition battling the jihadi group.
    Demonstrators outside the Professional Association Complex in Amman held aloft photographs of al-Kasaesbeh and banners reading "We are all Muath. This is not our war. Let him be free."
    Deputy Jamil al-Nimri came in support of al-Kasaesbeh and said the apparent step taken by IS to demand the release of Sajida al- Rishawi in exchange for a Japanese hostage instead of al-Kasaesbeh was intended to embarrass the Jordanian government.
    "Daesh's (Islamic State) demand, which instead of asking for Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange of the captured Muath, they instead use the Japanese (captive) to cause confusion and it is an exposed manoeuvre to strike the parties with each other and to embarrass the Jordanian government," said al-Nimri.
    A video, which was released on YouTube on Saturday (January 24) before being deleted, showed an image of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto in an orange t-shirt and a recording of what appeared to be him speaking in English.
    In the apparent recording, Goto says his fellow hostage Haruna Yukawa had been executed, that the militants had dropped their ransom demand, and that his life now depended on the release of Rishawi, an Iraqi held in Jordan.
    Rishawi was arrested shortly after she failed to blow herself up in one of three deadly hotel bombings that hit the Jordanian capital in 2005 and killed 60 people.
    Her husband and two other Iraqis blew themselves up.
    She was subsequently sentenced to death by hanging by a Jordanian military court in September 2006 but hasn't, so far, been executed.
    al-Kasaesbeh's brother was also at Monday's rally and urged the government to make Muath's return a priority.
    "Actually, there is an emotional point of view in the issue as Muath is a son of this country and he has the priority in exchanges, but in the government's point of view, it is the decision maker," said Jawat al-Kasaesbeh.
    Jordan is one of several Arab countries taking part in a U.S.-led coalition to strike the hardline group which announced an Islamic caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq where it has imposed its radical interpretation of Islam.
    Kasaesbeh's capture shocked the country. Several politicians and lawmakers called on the government to pull out of the coalition. The authorities said his capture would not weaken its resolve to fight militant Islamist groups.
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