The fate of two Japanese men taken hostage by a group claiming to be Islamic State militants operating in Syria and Iraq remained unknown Saturday, with the group apparently not having made any announcements since the perceived deadline for payment of a $200 million ransom expired the previous day, Kyodo news agency reported.
Yasuhide Nakayama, a senior Japanese diplomat overseeing a task force set up in Amman, Jordan, said Friday night that the situation remains tense after the deadline passed.
"But we remain focused on gathering information and combing through it," he told reporters. "We in the government will pull through this together and put priority on saving human lives."