The father of the Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh killed by the Islamic State has urged the government to do more than “just executing prisoners”, seeking revenge against the ISIS for the blood of his son.
Meanwhile, Jordan King Abdullah II has declared a “relentless” war against the Islamic State, vowing an intense fightback, adding that the pilot’s blood won’t go in vain. The Jordanian government said that the nation was determiner more than ever to combat ISIS.
Government spokesman Mohamed al-Momani said that the memebers of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition must collaborate to “undermine, degrade and eventually finish Islamic State”.
“This evil can and should be defeated;” the BBC quoted a govt spokesperson as saying.
Scathing the Islamic State as a “murderous” and barbaric organization, Safi al-Kasasbeh, the slain pilot’s aggrieved father called on the government to seek revenge against the ISIS and do more than just executing two al Qaeda prisoners.
Just hours after the ISIS released a brutal video showing the pilot being burnt alive, the Jordan government in a swift move, retorted back by hanging two al Qaeda prisoners affiliated to the ISIS.
Jordan executed two Iraqi prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi (who was captured after a failed attempt to bomb hotels in Amman in 2005) and Ziad Karbouli (convicted of terrorist acts in 2007).
The ISIS had called for the release of female Qaeda bomber Sajida al-Rishawi in return for the pilot’s life.
However the prisoner swap negotiations fell apart after the ISIS failed to prove that the pilot was alive.
The Jordanian TV later reported that the pilot had already been killed last month.
Talking to Al Arabiya News Channel, Al-Kasaesbeh’s father has called for complete elimination of the ISIS and egged the government to not stop after executing the two prisoners.
“I ask that this should not end with Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad Karbouli,” Safi al-Kasaesbeh said.
“The pain is deep… My son isn’t just the son of Safi al-Kasaesbeh; he is the son of every Jordanian. Grief is now in the hearts of every Jordanian mother and every Jordanian father,” reports quoted him as saying.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who cut short his US trip and rushed back home after the brutal pilot’s killing video was released, has pledged a severe response.
“The blood of martyr Moaz al-Kasasbeh will not be in vain and the response of Jordan and its army after what happened to our dear son will be severe,” the AFP quoted him as saying after his meeting with the security chiefs.
Moaz al-Kasasbeh is the first US-led anti ISIS coalition member to be killed by the IS.
Jordan is one of the anti-ISIS coalition members that has carried out air strikes against the ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition has been launching anti-jihadist airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since September and the Jordanian pilot’s plane is the first coalition warplane to have crashed.
Other than Jordan, other Arab states participating in the anti-IS air strikes in Syria are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
