Jordan vows revenge for pilot’s brutal murder by Islamic State

GWEN IFILL:

The brutal tactics of Islamic State radicals reached a grisly new extreme today. The group put out a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive.

In Washington, the visiting king of Jordan rearranged his schedule to meet with President Obama this evening, while, back home, his people absorbed the shock.

The pilot's father was attending a tribal meeting with other relatives in Jordan's capital when the video surfaced. He checked his cell phone, hung his head, and left. Then, a government spokesman confirmed the news publicly.

MOHAMMED AL-MOMANI, Jordanian Government Spokesman (through interpreter):

We are deeply saddened. And we pay our deepest respects to Jordan's martyr, Muath al-Kaseasbeh. We now all know in Jordan, beyond any doubt, how barbaric the Islamic State group is.

GWEN IFILL:

The 26-year-old lieutenant fell into Islamic State hands in December, after his plane crashed in Syria on a bombing mission.

Last week, the militants threatened to kill him, unless Jordan released Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman convicted in a 2005 bombing plot. The Jordanians demanded proof the pilot was still alive, which they never got. State TV in Amman reported today that he was actually killed a month ago.

The news came as King Abdullah was in Washington. And officials said he was cutting the visit short. Before he left, he sent a message home.

KING ABDULLAH II, Jordan (through interpreter):

In these difficult moment, it is the duty of all Jordanian citizens to stand united, to show the strength of this people in fighting this group. This will only give us more strength and resistance.

GWEN IFILL:

President Obama condemned the brutal killing and the Islamic State killers.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

It's just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization. And it, I think, will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of a global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated.

GWEN IFILL:

The hostage drama has sparked protests against Jordan's support for the coalition. But the Jordanian military vowed today to seek revenge.

Part of that revenge may also include the execution of the woman the Islamic State wanted released. Citing unnamed officials, Reuters and AFP have reported that Sajida al-Rishawi will be executed before dawn on Wednesday.