IS tells NHK it doesn't really need money; video authenticity questioned

The only reason why they would edit the hostages into the video is because they might already be dead. So IF Japan would pay up which it isnt id ask for proof of life, then again i doubt IS will be told what to do.

“I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released,”

Sure Abe, now they're definitely quaking in the boots.

NHK had a so-called Middle East 'Expert' on it's program last night and I nearly choked on my dinner listening to him! He said it was necessary for the Japanese to appeal to IS to spare their lives as they were peace loving individuals and were not military personnel. Really, you think it's possible to speak to their humanitarian side, yeah right. Maybe include some baby photos of these two and pictures of them making sand castles on the beach, it just might work.

So tired of the naive news anchors who like to add their own opinions as well which just makes every broadcast more comical. Come on NHK, stop with the kumbaya programing, spiritual commentary by your anchors and the amateurish well-wishers/experts and report the news. At least I might consider paying your extortionist fees! But really, If that expert is correct and they are released as per reasons stated above, I will start to pay, I promise, really!

i suspect Japan will pay.

And every Japanese person living anywhere in the world becomes an instant target for kidnappers looking for money. Not going to happen.

I certainly hope Japan doesn't pay! With over 1000 Muslins living in this city it could be an incentive for the local ones to kidnap any of us Americans living here and demand a ransom!

Pray tell why in the heck would the Japanese government pay ransom money for an American hostage? Does not make sense, no matter the location. Oh and forget the US paying, they wont either. You have some issues with being self-centered huh?

I think IS has proved themselves to be simply evil, nothing more. Paying a ransome for two hostages will inevitable lead to mass-slaughter of more innocent people. That is all they do so what else would they do with the money? Abe do you want to trade the lives of two japanese for maybe thousands of any group of people in the war-zone?

Anyone that's familiar with ISIS and Jihadi John know very well that these people mean business. There's nothing fake here. ISIS loves to edit their videos Hollywood style, but the atrocities committed on camera are very real.

I'm sad to say that they will come to realize this in a couple of days.

how would you even go about paying these scumbags?

We don’t need money,” they quoted the person as saying. “Islamic State is spending more than this amount ($200 million) in one day. It’s not an economic war but a spiritual war,” the person said, repeatedly adding the group was confident “your government will pay the money.”

This they talked to must high on something. They use $200 million per day? Simple math alone will tell anyone with even a 1/4 of a brain what they totals out to in a month (roughly 6 BILLION).

Oh right, he is exaggerating and he thinks Japan will pay the cash?

Not only exaggerating but nuts too!

'Expert' Middle East analysts discussing this on J TV have sussed that IS is desperate for money.

Shadows can be created using halogen spotlights, often used for filming and fashion photographs.

I agree the threat is real.

Film editor Genta Tamaki noted apparent discrepancies in the shadows cast by the hostages, which he said could indicate images of the two men had been inserted into the desert footage.

@Frank Thornton Forget the shadows cast by the hostages. Look at the hostages' necks. The shadows on their necks are on opposite sides. Oh, I see! There are two suns in the sky. They must be on Tatooine. Yup, this photo is totally legit (in a galaxy far far away).

Sometimes I think that the only thing keeping ISIS so dangerous is all the media coverage it's getting. Cut off their videos and threats, blanket them with bombs.

Burning Bush:

" Does ISIS even have a bank account? How can Japan pay them? "

They (as well as Al Quaeda in Africa and Somali pirates) have been taking and selling hostages for quite some time. Do you seriously think a bank account is an issue?

Allah knows who they spoke to; hey I can claim to be a PR officer of ISIS. That interview is really worth the air used to to speak it.

Is it important at all whether the video was edited or not? The speaker has been identified as the same IS terrorist who has nearly beheaded several westerners so-far! The individual also called out Abe and stated information that had been said by Abe on his Mideast tour. And it has also been confirmed that the two Japanese were captured and in the hands of IS.

The point is whether there is a credible threat to their lives and that has been confirmed, they were given 72 hours to live if conditions were met and the likelihood is Abe ain't gonna meet their demands.

Can see it now, tonight the Japanese news programs will be inundated with video experts picking apart the tape recording.

I think people are too hung up on debating the legitimacy of the video. What is true is that IS wants money from Japan, something will or has happened to these two men, and IS is a threat to any national who treads near their backyard.

What bothers me is that the US should be out in front of this more than any other nation because Japan is America's partner. Japan has adopted some tough positions to be on the side of the US in various arguments, been home to many US bases, and isn't allowed to have a standing military (due to WWII 70 years ago).

Japan has sent money to combat terrorism, which is all they've done in this fight, I mean, Japan is and has always been concerned with battling the Koreas and China, not the Middle East. So, now, it's time the US acts on all of those promises they made to Japan that they'd protect/help them when the time come. The time has come. See what you can do, America.

If a video has been photoshopped, it doesn't mean the IS doesn't have the two journalist and the message is fake. Just means it isn't uncompromised. Fake and altered are two different things. The threats and demands are very real.

It's good Abe is pushing the humanitarian and non-combatant side of IS. If they aren't released and are executed, all they've done is brought Japan directly against them who will then likely provide military support in the Middle East. By IS's demand of an impossible $200m, you would wonder whether they wanted this from the start..

Photo edited or not, this is a serious situation, and some of the comments actually kind of tick me off with the amount of inconsideration that is exhibited. There are only two things that the "photo-editing" could correspond to: one, those two men are, regrettably, dead and were placed into the video; two, they are still alive and clinging onto dear life. This is not something to be so insensitive about. They are human beings, like all of us. Yet some of the comments on here speak of them as if they are of a lesser importance. Imagine stepping into their shoes perhaps? Their families' shoes? Sure, they made a mistake by roaming foreign territory, even with the knowledge of the amount of danger, but, as I said before, they are human, and do not deserve to be murdered by the hands of a Terrorist.

Sure, Abe saying "I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released," is probably not much of a help at all, but what can he even do in this situation? There's a lot of bashing towards him, but this entire thing is at an arbitrary stalemate with almost no way out at all. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of pressure that is on him right now. Or the country as a whole. Terrorism is a truly frightening thing and my heart goes out to their families.

I trust that Japan will not pay. And I truly hope and pray that those two men have not yet died.

Anyone that's familiar with ISIS and Jihadi John know very well that these people mean business. There's nothing fake here. ISIS loves to edit their videos Hollywood style, but the atrocities committed on camera are very real.

Not hard to kill when you are surrounded by friends and the victims are tied up. Their trademark is "bravely"' taking on those who can't fight back.

The Threat is absolutely categorically undeniably REAL. That is the same and one SOB POS that spoke in the other recordings. I can not WAIT for the second that SON POS and all the other POS are brought to justice. Can NOT wait!

Strongly endorse superman, Spider-Man or Umperman as a replacement for this Ahalla fellow, as far as fictional characters none of the replacements requires beheading or stoning not even a mention of circumcision. Certainly never require cash for lives. Why are these nuts not more interested in Star Trek and indulge themselves in beheadings?

Fungy:

" It doesn't take a genius to see the connection. If Abe just agrees to back down from his 200 million pledge to fight IS then they'll probably let the Japanese reporters go. "

No they won´t. You are dreaming.

Really hilarious how some use this IS action as a platform to attack Abe instead of IS.

Did anyone else notice?.......

Get a bigger picture of all three of them. Notice the two on your left....their shadows are being cast to the rigth rear of them. However the third person (on your right) his shadow is being cast to the left rear.

Thats kind of wierd.........

@John: There are at least two suns on that desert/ From left and another one from right. since Japan is only familiar with one rising sun, Abe decided not to pay ransom to them.

If the video is fake, you'd think there would be appropriately qualified experts saying so all over the world's media. I find it difficult to believe IS could fake a video that would stand up to the scrutiny of people with the right equipment who know what they're looking for. Experts on shadows... well if I believed them I'd be falling for every conspiracy theory in the book.

Watching the news this morning and the "experts" (if they really fit the bill) ARE saying the video is circumspect. I myself have no idea whether it is or not but it does seem odd if you look closely.

But for those who can't differentiate between me saying this and the rest of the much bigger story, I am not saying there is no threat. Please show some intelligence and compartmentalize. Even with a fake video, this does not mean things are any less serious.

But I stand by my appraisal of those involved. I kind of feel sorry for Haruna, he could use some real help in the normal world, let alone where he is now. Probably should have had his passport revoked after the first time he went, assuming the authorities were aware. Unfortunately lack of communication often leads to people slipping through nets.

Just like the previous videos. Red herring, anyone?

The amazing insensitivity some can show here must be based in something. No can really be sure what. These are two human beings, held hostage by madmen who buried children alive.

ISIS isn't planning. They have beheaded, buried alive and executed civilians.

"A third American hostage held by ISIS has been identified as a 26-year-old American woman who was kidnapped a year ago while doing humanitarian relief work in Syria. The terror group is demanding $6.6 million and the release of U.S. prisoners for the life of the young woman, whom a representative for the family requested not be identified."

reference: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/isis-demands-66m-ransom-26-year-american-woman/story?id=25127682

ISIS is grasping at straws. The Islamic world is insulted by these pirates and knows ISIS is the single most damaging threat to innocent Muslims around the world.

ISIS is now casting mad numbers. Human life went from 6.6 million five months ago and now it's 200M. That's not a plan, that's desperation and, in worst light, it means these men are already dead.

ISIS is grasping at straws. The Islamic world is insulted by these pirates and knows ISIS is the single most damaging threat to innocent Muslims around the world.

Single most? That is debatable but since you and many in the world refuse to acknowledge or recognize that Boko Haram is a threat, I guess they dont count because they are in Africa.

Yubaru - 01:29PM "the world refuse to acknowledge or recognize that Boko Haram is a threat"

One may read pointless distinctions and still recognize Islam itself is under attack from fascists. To imagine that anyone is insensitive to the slaughters of Boko Haram is in itself an antagonism for no purpose. All heat and no light.

To me it looks as if all three in the photo have been superimposed over the desert background. The under chin shadows on the hostages are going in different directions, and 'Jihad John' looks like he's being lit from the front. Very odd.

Oh, and if Japan pays then they are fuelling IS and their barbarism.

There is nothing faked about the video

I agree. I watched the video and the analysis of it and found the analysis lacking.

"Japan, a constitutionally pacifist country, has steered clear of the armed entanglements of the U.S., Britain and other Western nations in the Middle East."

Er, what? Not seen the news recently?

This was the case after WW2, but sadly the actions of Abe et al. and constitutional amendments mean this is no longer the case.

yeah, yeah... who would believe that. even their rapes are justified as holy duty.

Papaguillo:

" The only reason why they would edit the hostages into the video is because they might already be dead. "

No. The desert background is more dramatic than some building wall, and ISIS is known to use effective PR. And I suppose edititing some blue screen picture is less hassle than driving them out into the desert and setting up video and sound equipment.... I`d say that is all there is to it.

Who are the men? Is one of them the military otaku who was kidnapped (and reported executed already)? It's beyond foolish and "heiwa-boke" to go near that place.

why does everyone keep saying this guy has a british accent and english is his first language? neither is true.

Grungy.

The 2 guys were taken MONTHS ago. Abe didn't pledge the money to fight ISIS but to help refugees and people affected by ISIS.

Considering those facts are well known and all over the needy I am surprised at your post.

Frungy quote: "If Abe just agrees to back down from his 200 million pledge to fight IS..." Sigh, Frungy, you know it wasn't money for fighting IS.

"If he agrees to back down from his promise of humanitarian aid for people displaced by IS..." , then we might be talking.

When they upload the video of their decapitated heads I suppose the "experts" will be telling us that is faked too?

I think Abe's response should be that if those two are killed he will spend the $200 million on bombs and drop them on IS.

We don;t have to be an expert video analyst. Enlarge above photo and compare where are shadows of both men s necks. Figure out there are two suns in desert there. Mayvw three suns? There is no shadow of the center guy. I think you all know how to enlarge photos but in case ... Place your cursor ion photo and click. To be in normal display, bring cursor out of pic and click. You will become an amateur photo analyst.

“We don’t need money,”

That's a lie. IS doesn't yet control all of the Middle East, much less the world. They need money.

Neither hostage appeared to blink once, nor did they show any signs of abnormal breathing.. Just hope the world is not shocked again!

At this moment only god can help their release. Since they don't need money then don't give them.

the US and allies are very slow on this one, and the slower action it is, the more lives to be lost, these islamic fanaticals are enjoying nothing but evil.

"It’s not an economic war but a spiritual war,” the person said, repeatedly adding the group was confident “your government will pay the money.” - someone claiming to be in charge of “public relations” for the militant group Islamic State, article.

Public Relations? ISIS was work shopping some ideas. Their PR team began the campaign by killing children, beheadings with a Koranic theme, added a dash of blackmail to threaten the Japanese people and finishes with a flourish of green screen certainty.

One thing is certain, ISIS will kill these men, if they are not already dead. In an ongoing series of slaughters ISIS has the sense to work in a PR representative's claims about "spirituality". Let the reader review the spirituality of ISIS.

ISIS Kills at Least 500 Yazidi in Iraq, Buries Some Alive: Reuters "BAGHDAD - Militants from ISIS have killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq's human rights minister told Reuters on Sunday. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Sunni militants had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children."

ref: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/isis-kills-least-500-yazidi-iraq-buries-some-alive-reuters-n177121

One guy went there to hellp rebele against Syrian Govt. One went to make the first onw to go back to Japan. As Japan prohibited Japanes go to Syria, more likely theydid not have valid visas. This kind of fate will be for Japanese busybodies who want to help violent rebels.

There really is no way out of this. And I do not believe that Abe will pay or even wants to. It makes perfect sense for him not to! I Why? From a political perspective this would deliver the Abe government a perfect opportunity to further its dream of having a strong assertive Japan (fukoku kyohei). If the hostages are murdered by ISIS then the resulting videos will shock the Japanese people enough that Abe's calls for a Japan able to defend itself and make preemptive attacks to save its own citizens will make more sense to the population. Abe rushed back from the Middle East to Japan on the pretense of handling the crisis but this made little sense to me unless he wanted to prepare for something other than hostage negotiations. I am interested to see how Abe plays this one......

souka Jan. 21, 2015 - 11:40PM JST

the US and allies are very slow on this one, and the slower action it is, the more lives to be lost, these islamic fanaticals are enjoying nothing but evil.

That's not a fair or accurate assessment! Would you like the US Intelligence Agency, the CIA and Pentagon to hold hourly press conferences revealing in detail what is being done, surely you wouldn't? Would you like the White House Press Secretary to share what conversations between Obama and Abe had transpired, surely you wouldn't?

I'm fairly sure that would be disastrous for any planed rescue operation! Nobody except for the people involved know what is being done to save their lives so lets lay-off the US bashing because if they are killed, it will not be because of what the US did or didn't do!

"Two nutcases travel into a war zone"? - Burning Bush 05:59AM

Really? Talk about blaming the victim.

"One is a freelance journalist respected for his reporting on refugees and children in war zones."

ref: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japanese-hostages-lives-intertwined-28372238

Sadly, if you play with fire too long, eventually you will burn. A year gone-by of these two hostages roaming this land and thought it will be a free ride. Getting apprehended is their own unfortunate fate and now, J-Gov along with Mr. Abe, will have to compensate for their dismay. My thoughts and prayers goes out to them, and hope it all works out peacefully in the end.

ISIS probably did not know Japanese currency is not dollar. They are the people who can not do simple arithmetic.

They are criminals but they certainly know Japanese currencies and how to do arithmetic, do not under-estimate those terrorist.

lay-off the US bashing because if they are killed, it will not be because of what the US did or didn't do!

Sorry, no US bashing, however these IS group is the only threat now (perhaps major threat against humanity) and the longer it takes to act, the more time they will have to better organise, fund, or dig tunnels to hide themselves underground.

Followers of the faith have to take this seriously, just as goverments does, if that might include getting together and decide on changes to several scriptural verses, why not!

IS is the most damaging and most outrageously visible threat perhaps, but Boko Haram as Yubaru says, al Qaeda, various Taliban groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Jemaah Islamiah, etc, etc., hundreds of Islamic terror groups around the world are all embarrassing to innocent non-radical Muslims.

First off, the history of NHK and their strong nationalist views and right-wing ideologies has shown to me I shouldn't put all my trust in their reporting.

Secondly, maybe this is crazy, but is this Abe's people putting it out there that this video is a fake, so that way the ransom can be paid under less scrutiny because people will stop asking to save these two hostages when the govt says there is no one to save, they're not hostages. Then, after the ransom is paid, and these men are free, these men will say, No, we were never hostages.

That way, it won't ever appear Abe or the govt gave in to terrorists. Is that possible?

This is all just Abe trying to push for the constitutional reforms he wants, and using Japanese citizens as cannon fodder.

Frungy, If so, J public would not support Abe or constitutional reforms. Abe can see that. I think Abe was under pressure to do something against terrorists.

" Does ISIS even have a bank account? How can Japan pay them? "

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Banks welcome any people who deposit money. They advertise on TV, by mail. etc

Internationally, Swiss banks welcome foreign big money deposits

ISIS probably did not know Japanese currency is not dollar. They are the people who can not do simple arithmetic.

As much as i hope this is a hokes ,sadly they should not pay IS to release the two if they have them. But given the people they already beheaded this is no joke.

Really? Talk about blaming the victim. "One is a freelance journalist respected for his reporting on refugees and children in war zones."

Ok then maybe one nutcase who has a desire to die. Either way, the freelance guy knew the risks and took them anyway, the other one obviously went looking for them.

Japan can not pay the ransom, the consequences would be too far reaching to even seriously contemplate.

I had one of Fox channels on and one national politician who is an expert on middle east commented that ISIS organization Head people have plenty of income every day because they have illegal crude oil sales businesses that are very profittable. Another one mentioned that ISIS who are blackmailin Japan (two people) might not belong to True ISIS.

oh boy here we go again

Japan is talking with ISIS representatives who can not compute how much is $200 M X 365 =. I hope these captors don't know how many days are in 72 hours. Kind hard to discuss matters with criminals who does not know arithmetic.

Japan will not pay because ISIS has $200 million a day budget. .

Abe and the LDP leaders before him are why there are hostages now. ISIS is not capturing Chinese. China did not support the illegal and immoral Iraq invasion that created ISIS.

I just want to know if ISIS has sleeper cells in Tokyo and are authorities doing something about it.

If the video is fake, you'd think there would be appropriately qualified experts saying so all over the world's media. I find it difficult to believe IS could fake a video that would stand up to the scrutiny of people with the right equipment who know what they're looking for. Experts on shadows... well if I believed them I'd be falling for every conspiracy theory in the book.

Why do these scumbags even continue to have youtube, google, twitter, facebook accounts, who knows they may even have a japantoday account. But seriously why are they not blocked from internet access everytime they surface their ugly heads, or why does not the youtubes etc just delete their videos etc instead of leaving them to gain fame and fortune.

Technology today that the powers that be have should be able to find these aholes and fly cruise missiles down their throats quicker than you can say Jihad.

Japan wont pay, they didn't pay for the last poor mug who was decapitated over there 10 years ago they wont pay this time either, watch Abe arm up now and support UK and US and their allies, this plays right into Abe's game.

discrepancies in the shadows cast by the hostages, which he said could indicate images of the two men had been inserted into the desert footage.

...or it could mean that the terrain is not flat. In which case the shadows would not be consistent with those casted on a flat surface.

nandakandamandaJan. 21, 2015 - 08:30PM JST Frungy quote: "If Abe just agrees to back down from his 200 million pledge to fight IS..." Sigh, Frungy, you know it wasn't money for fighting IS.

If you honestly believe that you have no idea how money works.

Let's say you have two buckets, let's label the "Running the country" and "Attacking IS". They're both half full.

I now throw a 2 liter bottle of water into the "Running the country" bucket, the bottle is labelled "AID".

Now the "Running the country" bucket is much fuller. I can't transfer the "AID" bottle into the "Attacking IS" bucket, but I can pour some of the original water into the "Attacking IS" bucket.

And that is how budgets work. Some of it is earmarked, but most of the money can easily be transferred from one budget to another.

The militant says that the ransom sum is equal to the aid that Abe pledged in support of the fight against IS.

January 18th - Abe pledges 200 million to IS's enemies.

January 20th - IS kidnaps 2 Japanese citizens and demands 200 million from Abe.

It doesn't take a genius to see the connection. If Abe just agrees to back down from his 200 million pledge to fight IS then they'll probably let the Japanese reporters go.

Of course Abe won't do that. He made the grand pledge knowing that Japanese citizens were in harm's way and would be targeted.

Now he'll refuse to pay and when they're executed he'll use this to push for Japan's direct military involvement against IS.

This is all just Abe trying to push for the constitutional reforms he wants, and using Japanese citizens as cannon fodder. They won't be the first to die for his ambition, nor the last.

Complete BS from the government and a way to say "we couldn't have known it was not faked" when they are killed... The "film expert is an idiot, the sunlight in countries around the world is different to Japan due to different atmospheric conditions. There is nothing faked about the video, only Japan's "analysis" of it

“I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released,” he told a news conference in Jerusalem. “The international community will not give in to terrorism and we have to make sure that we work together.”

They don't give one wit what you 'strongly demand', Abe. It's your demands and your eagerness to get Japan into foreign wars that have landed these two men in their predicament.

All 3 are as nutty as each other. Unsurprisingly all 3 also like being on camera, but I suspect 2 would prefer different circumstances. Assuming they're not in a ditch already.

So this was kind of Photoshopped? Weird. whatever the movie, i suspect Japan will pay.