Isis-linked 'countdown clock' reaches zero as 72-hour deadline to save hostages expires
Posting reportedly carried warning 'the countdown has begun'
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Your support makes all the difference.A countdown clock allegedly posted by militants associated with Isis online has reached zero after a 72-hour ransom deadline expired, it has been reported.
The posting, which appeared on Friday, was initially posted with the warning: "the countdown has begun" along with gruesome images of other hostages who have been beheaded by the group, according to the Associated Press.
A video emerged on Tuesday showing a black-clad militant wielding a knife and threatening to execute Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa if the Japanese Government did not pay a $200 million (£132m) ransom within 72 hours.
Tokyo believes the deadline expired at 5.50am GMT on Friday, according to AFP.
Junko Ishido, the mother of 47-year-old journalist Mr Goto, made a tearful appeal on behalf of her son as the ransom deadline demanded by Isis for him and Mr Yukawa drew closer.
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