Jordanian Military Pilot Killed by ISIS; A Country Scarred by ISIS; Former Hostage Tells of ISIS Brutality
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST (voice-over): Jordan announces the murder of pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh after ISIS releases video of him being burned alive. So what will the king do now? Reaction from former foreign minister to the depth of this ISIS depravity. Plus an exclusive interview with my French colleague, himself held hostage by ISIS for 10 months. Didier Francois lived to tell his story and says religion is not what motivates his captors.</s>DIDIER FRANCOIS, JOURNALIST AND FORMER HOSTAGE (voice-over): This was more hammering what they were believing than teaching us about the Quran because it does not seem to lose the Quran, we didn't even have the Quran. They did not want to give us a Quran.</s>AMANPOUR: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour. Tonight: Jordan's worst fears have been realized as ISIS shows that it has, in fact, killed their pilot, Maaz al-Kassasbeh, after days pretending to negotiate his fate with the government. After gruesome pictures of Kassasbeh's fiery death by immolation began to circulate online, Jordanian state television confirmed it and furthermore said that he had been killed a month ago on January 3rd. That's more than three weeks before ISIS publicly tried to link his face -- his fate to their demand. That Jordan release had failed suicide bomber from death row, Sajida al-Rishawi. This weekend ISIS had beheaded the Japanese journalist, Kenji Goto, who also had been linked to that prisoner swap. All along, Jordan had demanded proof their pilot was still alive. Now we know why they never got it. In the streets of Maaz al-Kassasbeh's hometown and across Jordan, there is, of course, grief and shock and anger. Joining me now from Washington is the former Jordanian foreign minister and deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher. He's now vice president for studies at the Global Think Tank Carnegie. Marwan, thank you for joining us. The king has cut short a visit to the United States and is headed back. What do you think is the reaction that he is going to face when he gets home?</s>MARWAN MUASHER, JORDANIAN DEPUTY PM: Well, there's a lot of anger obviously and shock for what has happened and in the way in which it happened, Christiane. I think that actually I expect Jordanians to be united this evening, no matter what their political positions are, behind the king on this one. I -- this is -- this has not happened in this way many times in Jordan. And the way it was carried out I think will get everybody united today.</s>AMANPOUR: Because of course, when we spoke before during these negotiations, you correctly pointed out that the king was caught between two very, very difficult options when it came to the idea of a prisoner swap, releasing this death row prisoner because so many of the tribes and others believe that this coalition against ISIS is simply not their war. So you say they'll be united. Do you think the king can persuade them that actually this is their war?</s>MUASHAR: I think regardless of whether they will consider it their war or not, I think the way in which this was carried out will get Jordanians together, tribes and otherwise. In fact, there are already public calls in the public for a retaliatory action against ISIS. And in fact I do expect the government to do that, probably in implementing the death sentence against the four ISIS hostages -- terrorists that we have, including Sajida al-Rishawi.</s>AMANPOUR: So you think she will actually now be put to death? She's on death row.</s>MUASHAR: I think so. I think the Jordanians probably will expect a retaliatory action like that. We are, of course, a country of laws and institutions and since death sentence has already been passed on these four, I think that there will be a public call to implement that death sentence and implement it soon.</s>AMANPOUR: Do you believe there's any risk that Jordan will pull back from the coalition?</s>MUASHAR: I don't think so and particularly not after today. I think the king has made it clear that he sees that as a war of values for moderate Islam and I think that particularly after the way in which it was carried today, I think that Jordan has no option but to carry ahead with the fight against</s>ISIS. AMANPOUR: Marwan, how do you think, how do you suppose the Jordanian military knows that Maaz was actually killed a month ago? And what do you think then all of this posturing and public negotiating and trying to get him back was all about? Do you think they had any idea even over the last weeks where this has become public?</s>MUASHAR: Well, the reports are still coming in so we don't really know for sure. My guess is that the military has suspicions based on intelligence that Maaz al-Kassasbeh might have been killed and that is probably why the government insisted all along on proof of life before they would release Sajida al-Rishawi. I think that explains the position that the Jordanian government had all along.</s>AMANPOUR: All right. Well, Marwan, we'll obviously keep following this, Marwan Muashar, former foreign minister of Jordan, thank you so much for joining us. And of course, King Abdullah has been in Washington on a special visit there. He is commander of the Jordanian military forces and he is headed back, of course, to Jordan, cutting his visit short and recording, taping a message for his people as he headed back to them. Japan has also been obviously traumatized by ISIS recently. ISIS beheaded two of its citizens and a shocked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swore that he would never forgive the terrorists. Tonight, his foreign policy adviser, Tomohiko Taniguchi, told me that Japan would keep helping countries like Jordan, which are overflowing with refugees from Syria, and he said neither the people of Japan nor the prime minister's resolve would be shaken.</s>TOMOHIKO TANIGUCHI, ADVISER TO JAPANESE PM SHINZO ABE: He is going to do as much as he can to bring those criminals into justice. He is not going to forget what these two citizens from Japan have had to endure.</s>AMANPOUR: And after a break, we turn to a man who could have been killed by ISIS. I speak to a colleague who survived and is now telling important information about these terrorists.