Pilot's father calls for Jordan to avenge son's slaying

The father of a Jordanian fighter pilot called on the government Wednesday to avenge his son's murder by the Islamic State and for the U.S.-led coalition to "eradicate this criminal organization."

His plea came after Jordan executed al-Qaeda-linked Iraqi prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli before dawn Wednesday, hours after the extremists released a gruesome video that purportedly showed pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, 26, being burned alive in a cage.

"I ask that this should not end with Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad Karbouli," Safi al-Kaseasbeh, the pilot's father, said in an interview with Al Arabiya News Channel. "I expect the government to seek revenge, severe revenge for the blood of (Muath) against this horrid organization, this criminal organization, this organization that is far from Islam and the spirit of Islam,"

"The pain is deep," he told the broadcaster. "My son isn't just the son of Safi al-Kaseasbeh; he is the son of every Jordanian. Grief is now in the hearts of every Jordanian mother and every Jordanian father."

Jordan's King Abdullah on Wednesday vowed a "relentless" war against the militant group on their own territory, which covers parts of Iraq and Syria.

"We are waging this war to protect our faith, our values and human principles and our war for their sake will be relentless and will hit them in their own ground," state television quoted the king as saying during a security meeting, Reuters reports.

Jordan's military is seeking to conduct more of the anti-Islamic State airstrikes within the coalition, CNN reports, quoting a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said the number of airstrikes that Jordan can handle will depend on a various of factors, including location of targets and the weather.

The developments came on the heels of a week-long drama over a possible prisoner exchange, where Jordan had agreed to free al-Rishawi to win the release of al-Kaseasbeh but first wanted proof the pilot was alive. Al-Rishawi had been on death row for her role in the bombing of three hotels in the Jordanian capital Amman in 2005 that killed dozens. Jordanian TV reported al-Kaseasbeh's killing took place Jan. 3, raising questions about the negotiations for the pilot's freedom.

Outrage took hold across the Middle East on Wednesday, as political and religious leaders denounced the killing and called for blood.

Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Egypt's Al-Azhar Mosque, Sunni Islam's most respected seat of learning, said the militants deserved the Quran-prescribed punishment of death, crucifixion or the chopping off of their arms.

"Islam prohibits the taking of an innocent life," Al-Tayeb said in a statement. By burning the pilot to death, the militants violated Islam's prohibition on the mutilation of bodies, even at wartime, he added.

Iyad Madani, the leader of the 57-nation, Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation — the world's largest bloc of Muslim countries — condemned the killing, saying it "utterly disregards the rights of prisoners Islam has decreed, as well as the human moral standards for war and treatment of prisoners."

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' foreign minister, reaffirmed his nation's commitment to fighting terrorism and extremism.

"This heinous and obscene act represents a brutal escalation by the terrorist group, whose evil objectives have become apparent," he said. The killing was also condemned by Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

The UAE, a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State, suspended its airstrikes against the extremist group in December after the Jordanian pilot was captured, The New York Times reported Wednesday.The UAE is demanding that the Pentagon improve its search-and-rescue efforts in northern Iraq before it will resume strikes, the Times said, quoting unidentified U.S. officials.

Jordanians on Wednesday were shocked over the brutality of the killing.

"There is no religion that accepts such acts," Amman resident Hassan Abu Ali said. "Islam is a religion of tolerance. (Islamic State militants) have nothing to do with Islam. This is criminal act."

Al-Kaseasbeh was captured by the Islamic State in December after his aircraft crashed over Syria. He is the first, and so far only, foreign military pilot to be captured since a U.S.-led coalition began airstrikes on the militants last year.

The video marks the first time a high-profile hostage of the Islamic State has been killed by fire, according to IntelCenter, which monitors extremist websites. In the past, hostages have been beheaded or shot.

Even some clerics sympathetic to the jihadist causes objected to burning the captive alive and filming it, largely because it presented an image problem for the extremist group.

"This weakens the popularity of Islamic State because we look at Islam as a religion of mercy and tolerance. Even in the heat of battle, a prisoner of war is given good treatment," Abu Sayaf, a Jordanian Salafist cleric also known as Mohamed al-Shalabi, told Reuters. Sayaf spent almost a decade in Jordanian prisons for terrorist-related acts, including plotting to attack U.S. troops.

"Even if the Islamic State says (al-Kasaesbeh) had bombed, and burnt and killed us and we punished him in the way he did to us, we say, OK but why film the video in this shocking way?" he said. "This method has turned society against them."

Contributing: Jim Michaels, USA TODAY; Associated Press