release of a Japanese journalist and a Jordanian pilot are "deadlocked."

Japan′s deputy foreign minister Yasuhide Nakayama, who is leading Tokyo′s emergency

response team in Jordan, says there has been no progress in trying to secure the release

of Kenji Goto or the Jordanian airman. A top aide to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo

Abe told reporters on Saturday that the government was still waiting for new information.

Islamic State had vowed to kill its Jordanian hostage by sunset on Thursday unless Jordan

handed over an Iraqi militant in return for Mr. Goto.

Jordan has demanded evidence the pilot is still alive before it frees would-be suicide

bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, who has been on death row for nearly a decade.