OBAMA HOLDS EMERGENCY TALKS WITH KING ABDULLAH II AFTER ISIL KILLS PILOT

Amman, 14 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/4 February 2015 (MINA)- US President Barack Obama has held a hastily arranged meeting with Jordanian ruler King Abdullah II following immolation of a Jordanian pilot at the hands of ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

The two met in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday after an ISIL video surfaced showing the militants purportedly torching 26-year-old Moaz al-Kassasbeh to death.

US intelligence officials were trying to determine the date the video was captured in an attempt to authenticate it as Jordanian media confirmed the pilot’s death, suggesting the footage could have been shot a month ago, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Following the release of the video, Obama called the ISIL move “one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization.

He also claimed that the US would “redouble” efforts through the US-led coalition to combat ISIL in the region, adding, the ISIL “appears interested in only death and destruction.”

Meanwhile, Bernadette Meehan, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said the video was being studied for assessment of its validity.

“We stand in solidarity with the government of Jordan and the Jordanian people,” Meehan said, calling on the militants to release all hostages in their captivity.

Following the incident, the US also announced it would raise annual aid to Jordan from $660 million to $1 billion.

The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, control parts of territory in Syria and Iraq.

The US and some of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against the ISIL in Iraq and Syria since last year. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)