Special to WorldTribune.com

AMMAN — Jordan has become the first country to offer a prisoner exchange with Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

The Hashemite kingdom said it was ready to release a woman on death row for a Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot captured by ISIL in late 2014. The woman, identified as Sajida Al Rishawi, had been sentenced to death in connection with Al Qaida strikes on Amman in 2005.

“Jordan is ready to release the Iraqi prisoner, Sajida Al Rishawi, if the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath Al Kaseasbeh, is released unharmed,” Jordanian goverment spokesman Mohammed Al Momani said.

In a statement on Jan. 28, Jordan became the first country to formally offer ISIL a prisoner exchange. In 2014, ISIL released more than 40 Turkish hostages, followed by Ankara’s freeing of an unspecified number of jihadist fighters.

Jordan has been under increasing domestic pressure to win the release of the air force pilot, captured after his U.S.-origin F-16 multi-role fighter crashed in northern Syria in December 2014. Amman, a training base for Syrian Sunni rebels, has participated in U.S.-led air strikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

“From the start, the position of Jordan was to ensure the safety of our son,” the statement, referring to the pilot, said.

Officials said Jordan has also sought to win the release of a Japanese journalist threatened with execution by ISIL. In the statement, Al Momani did not cite the journalist, identified as Kenji Goto.

  Jordan, Jordan set to be first nation to offer ISIL hostage swap, WorldTribune.com