WASHINGTON — Hours after the Islamic State released a video Tuesday showing a Jordanian pilot being burned alive, multiple news outlets reported Jordan planned to execute a woman the militants had wanted freed.
Jordan's government had been trying to secure the pilot's release, agreeing last week to free Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman facing execution for her role in the 2005 hotel bombings in Jordan. However, the deal fell through after Jordan requested proof the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, was alive.
Reuters and AFP, citing unnamed sources, said al-Rishawi would be executed at dawn Wednesday in Jordan.
The video, which could not be independently verified, was released by the Islamic State's media arm, according to the IntelCenter, which monitors extremist websites. However, Jordanian TV reported that the burning of the pilot, , actually took place Jan. 3.
The recording — produced by the al-Furqan Media Foundation — marks the first time a high-profile hostage has been killed by fire, IntelCenter said in a statement. In the past, hostages have been beheaded or shot.
"It shows how the group is continually evolving its methods to gain the maximum exposure for its actions," the IntelCenter statement said.
Al-Kaseasbeh was captured by the Islamic State in December after his aircraft crashed over Syria. He was the first foreign military pilot to be captured since a U.S.-led coalition began airstrikes on the militants last year.
The White House said the intelligence community was working to confirm the video's authenticity and called on the Islamic State to release all captives being held by the militants. President Obama said the video, if authentic, was more evidence of the group's "viciousness and barbarity" and called the group's ideology "bankrupt."
Jordanian armed forces spokesman Mamdouh al-Ameri confirmed the murder and vowed "punishment and revenge."
"While the military forces mourn the martyr, they emphasize his blood will not be shed in vain," he said in a statement read on Jordanian TV.
In the U.S., Jordan's King Abdullah II abruptly ended his visit to Washington and headed home.
The video was released the same day Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh signed an agreement to promote regional security and economic development.
The 22 minute, 34 second video shows media footage depicting Jordan's participation in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State. The video goes back and forth between shots of al-Kaseasbeh surrounded by fighters and shots of buildings and homes that have been bombed by the coalition.
The final minutes show the pilot in a cage with flammable powder on the ground around and under him. A line of powder runs from the cage about 20 yards to a militant, who lights the powder. The man in the cage is quickly consumed by the flames.
The video's release came just days after another showing the beheading of Japanese video journalist Kenji Goto, who had been captured by Islamic State militants in October.
An audio message last week from the group said al-Kaseasbeh would be killed if al-Rishawi was not released by sunset Thursday, but didn't include any mention of Goto.
The militants had originally demanded $200 million in exchange for Goto's life and that of Haruna Yukawa, another Japanese citizen held hostage.
After releasing photos of Yukawa's decapitated body, the militants changed their demands, instead calling for the release of al-Rishawi.
Contributing: Katharine Lackey; Associated Press
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