Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood condemns pilot execution

Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood group yesterday condemned the execution of Jordanian pilot Mu’ath Al-Kaseasbeh by the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group.

“We condemn this criminal act that violates the rights of prisoners in Islam,” the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, said in a statement.

Earlier a video published online claimed to show Al-Kaseasbeh being burnt alive by ISIS.

The video, which has not yet been verified, shows a man wearing an orange suit standing in a cage surrounded by masked and armed men, who then set him on fire.

Jordanian Parliament Speaker Atef Tarawneh said Al-Kaseasbeh ‘s death “reflects the terrorist nature” of ISIS.

“This organisation is but a group of terrorists, murderers and gangsters,” Tarawneh was quoted as saying by Jordan’s state-run news agency.

Al-Kaseasbeh was captured by ISIS after his fighter plane crashed in the Syrian city of Raqqa in December.

Jordanian authorities had tried to secure the pilot’s release, but ISIS initially made his release conditional on the release of would-be suicide bomber Sajida Al-Rishawi from a Jordanian jail.

Last summer, ISIS captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, killing thousands in the process. It later declared the captured territories to be part of a self-styled “Islamic caliphate”.

Since the group captured the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June of last year, a US-led coalition has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIS targets in both Iraq and Syria.