DHAKA: Japan’s deputy foreign minister has said negotiation with the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria threatening to execute a Jordanian pilot and a Japanese journalist has become ‘deadlocked’.

Local media reported on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.

Yasuhide Nakayama, who is leading Tokyo’s emergency response team in Amman, told reporters in the Jordanian capital late Friday that there had been no progress in trying to secure the release of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian airman Maaz al-Kassasbeh.

‘It has become deadlocked,’ he said, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

‘Staying vigilant, we will continue analysing and examining information as the government is making concerted efforts together.’

BDST: 1419 HRS, JAN 31, 2015