Unsuccessful negotiations took place for his release. His family applied pressure on the Jordanian government to arrange for his release. Originally, it was proposed to trade him and a kidnapped Japanese journalist, Kenji Goto, for Sajida al-Rishawi, a failed Iraqi suicide bomber incarcerated in Jordan since she took part in the 2005 Amman hotel bombings, and sentenced to death. The Jordanian government insisted on proof that al-Kasasbeh was still alive before it could proceed with a swap. ISIL refused and published the video of his killing. Some analysts have assessed ISIL's offer of prisoner exchange as a gimmick that was meant to put into disrepute or mock the commitment of the Jordanian government to the military intervention against it. There have also been suggestions that the proposal was a tactic intended to free its valued member in exchange for a corpse.