AMMAN - Jordan said on Sunday it was still ready to hand over a jailed Iraqi militant to Islamic State in a swap deal if its captured pilot was released, even after a second Japanese hostage was beheaded by the hardline group. Jordan's security and military agencies were making constant checks to see whether the pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, was still alive, government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani told Reuters. 'We are still ready to hand over the convict Sajida al-Rishawi in return for the return of our son and our hero,' Mohammad al-Momani added. Kasaesbeh was captured in December after his F-16 fighter jet crashed in territory controlled by the militants in Syria.
