Jordanian king vows 'relentless' war on ISIL's own ground

Jordan's King Abdullah vowed a "relentless" war against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on their own territory on Feb. 4 in response to a video published by the hard-line group showing a captured Jordanian air force pilot being burned alive in a cage.
   
Jordan hanged two Iraqi jihadists, one a woman, on Wednesday and vowed to intensify military action against Islamic State.
   
"We are waging this war to protect our faith, our values and human principles and our war for their sake will be relentless and will hit them in their own ground," state television quoted the king as saying during a security meeting.
   
U.S. officials said on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates had withdrawn from flying air strikes in the U.S.-led coalition campaign against ISIL after the Jordanian pilot's plane went down over Syria in December.
   
Jordan, which is part of the U.S.-led alliance, had promised an "earth-shaking response" to the killing of its pilot, Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, who was captured after his F-16 crashed.
   
Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said on Wednesday: "We are talking about a collaborative effort between coalition members to intensify efforts to stop extremism and terrorism to undermine, degrade and eventually finish Daesh." Daesh is used as a derogatory Arabic term for ISIL.
   
He said it was a continuation of Jordan's long standing policy in fighting hard-line Islamist militants and that King Abdullah, who cut short a trip to the United States, headed a meeting with senior security officials on Wednesday.
   
"All the state's military and security agencies are developing their options. Jordan's response will be heard by the world at large but this response on the...