Japan Vows to 'Never Give Up' Search for ISIL Hostages

Whether freelance journalist Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, the self-employed contractor he had gone to rescue, were alive remained unknown a day after the deadline to secure their release expired with no word from their captors.

The militants had threatened to kill the hostages if they did not receive $200 million in 72 hours, which Tokyo interpreted as meaning 2:50 pm (0550 GMT) on Friday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama, who was heading Japan's efforts to rescue its two nationals out of Jordan's capital Amman, told reporters, "It is a very difficult path to see their release, despite a variety of routes."

"We are focusing on scrutinising information over again. We will never give up. We will bring them home."

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters there was "nothing new to report" after holding a meeting of an emergency taskforce on Saturday morning, AFP reported.

ISIL militants released a video this week in which Goto and Yukawa, apparently kneeling in the desert, are threatened with execution by a man with a British accent.

The group, which rules large swathes of Iraq and Syria, has murdered five Western hostages since August last year but this is the first time it has threatened Japanese captives.

Junko Ishido, Goto's mother, on Friday launched an emotional appeal begging for mercy for her son.

"I say to you people of the ISIL, Kenji is not your enemy. Please release him," she said.

Japanese officials said they are still trying secure a channel of communication to contact the ISIL group as they scrutinise various information.

Yosuke Isozaki, an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Friday reportedly said there had been some "indirect" communication with the militants, but "nothing direct".

Tokyo has little diplomatic leverage in the Middle East, but local media say Abe may try to use his close relationship with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to rescue the hostages.