Jordan Begins Efforts to Win Release of Pilot Captured by Islamic State Jordan launched an effort to secure the release of a pilot held by Islamic State militants in Syria and said his capture wouldnt affect the nations support for the U.S.-led coalition fighting the extremist group. First Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh was taken prisoner on Wednesday when his plane went down near the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqa--an Islamic State stronghold. His capture triggered both outrage and an outpouring of sympathy among many Jordanians. But some Islamists in the country said the government shouldnt have joined the anti-Islamic State coalition in the first place. The incident will not deter Jordan from its national duty to fight terrorism, said Mohammad Momani, a minister and government spokesman. Jordanian soldiers are known for the sacrifices they made in the past and for their patriotism. We have made sacrifices in the past, and will continue to do so for the sake of our country. In Washington, a defense official said the U.S. and Jordan were working together closely to determine the cause of the crash and the next steps. The pilot was part of the coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. A media center in Raqqa affiliated with Islamic State claimed Wednesday that the groups fighters had shot the plane down. The U.S. denied the claim. Jordan is investing all its political, diplomatic and military contacts with regional and international allies at all levels in order to help rescue the pilot who was taken hostage, said Mr. Momani, who declined to give further details about the efforts. U.S. officials said they were extremely worried about the pilots fate. This is tragic. This is horrible, a U.S. defense official said Wednesday. All of us are very familiar with ISILs barbarity. In Syria, Islamic State didnt release any more photographs or information about the pilot on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Raqqa Media Center released a series of photographs purporting to show the captured pilot. One shows him in his underwear carried through water by three armed men. Another shows about a dozen armed men, most of them masked, surrounding him. Facebook has since shut down a page for the media center. U.S. officials have said a mechanical problem likely caused the crash, but the investigation is continuing. Evidence clearly indicates that ISIL didnt down the aircraft as the terrorist organization is claiming, the U.S. militarys Central Command said on Wednesday. Both the U.S. and Jordanian governments have special-operations teams in the region to help rescue pilots. But officials said there were early indications that the pilot didnt have a chance to try to evade militants on the ground. We would have gone in and picked him up. Those capabilities are in place. But there was very little time, a coalition official said. The Jordanian plane is the first coalition aircraft to crash in Iraq or Syria since the current campaign began against Islamic State. Since August, the U.S. and its coalition partners have conducted more than 830 airstrikes in Iraq, and since September they have conducted nearly 590 strikes in Syria. Jordan is one of Washingtons key allies in the Middle East and a long-standing partner in the war against al Qaeda and other extremists. In the current campaign, Jordan has provided its own pilots and jets for airstrikes as well as intelligence and logistical support. In Jordan, social media were flooded with posts supporting Lt. Kasasbeh. Supporters created hashtags and Facebook pages such as: We are all with you. Some Islamists, however, said Jordan shouldnt have participated in the war against Islamic State and urged it to pull out from the U.S.-led coalition and meet whatever demands the militants might make later. Did they [Jordanian authorities] think it was going to be a touristic excursion or that their fortifications would shield them from the other sides strikes, said Mohammad Shalabi, a Jordanian jihadist leader who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Sayyaf. To whose benefit is this war against Islamic State when it has not threatened Jordans borders or even threatened it with a statement. Mr. Shalabi is a supporter of al Qaedas Syrian affiliate Nusra Front. Jordans main Islamist political party, which is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, said little on Thursday. Ali Abu Sukkar, the deputy head of the Islamic Action Front, said while his party sympathized with Lt. Kasasbeh, it remained firmly opposed to Jordans participation in the anti-Islamic State coalition. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assads regime stepped up airstrikes and barrel bomb attacks against areas held by both Islamic State and rebel factions--killing nearly 90 civilians since Sunday, half of them on Thursday alone, according to opposition activists. Videos posted by opposition activists on the Internet showed the charred bodies of children being removed from the wreckage of smoldering buildings in a town east of the northern city of Aleppo. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, said the regime carried out 242 airstrikes and dropped 193 barrel bombs throughout Syria since Sunday.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 01:39:22 +0000
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