|
Mystery
Remains As Kidnapped Reporter Faces New Deadline
 |
| Pakistani
police, investigating Pearl’s kidnap around his Karachi residence |
ISLAMABAD,
Feb. 1 (IslamOnline) - As the group which claims to hold kidnapped Wall Street
Journal reporter extended a deadline by one day for the United States to release
the Pakistani prisoners, Pakistani police said today they were no closer to
finding the kidnapped U.S. reporter whose captors have threatened to kill him if
America does not meet their demands.
The
group claiming to have kidnapped Daniel Pearl has given the Unites States 24
hours to meet the demands or Pearl would be killed. The previously unknown
National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty extended that
deadline by a day on Thursday.
Pakistan's
top spokesman, Major General Rashid Qureshi said there had been some progress
and repeated there was evidence showing an Indian link to the kidnapping. New
Delhi has dismissed the allegation as "ridiculous."
"The
investigation is still going on and we are putting in our best efforts. We are
taking every lead into the account, but things have not yet moved much from
yesterday," a senior police official in Karachi told IslamOnline.
"Based
on the progress that we have made so far, we are hopeful that we will be able to
trace him," he said.
The
reporter, 38, disappeared in Karachi nine days ago as he worked on a story about
alleged shoe-bomber Richard Reid and tried to contact alleged Islamic groups.
A
group claiming to hold Pearl, on Thursday sent an email to various Western and
Pakistani media organizations.
Police
say they are taking the death threat seriously and were questioning the leader
of a radical Islamic group suspected of involvement in the abduction.
But
a key witness, namely Arif whom police believe had helped Pearl set up meetings,
was believed to have died, Inspector General Police, Sindh Syed Kamal Shah told
reporters today.
Police
raided Arif's house, only to find relatives praying for the dead man, but there
was no sign of a body. The cause and circumstances of Arif's death were not
known.
In
an email late on Wednesday, the kidnap group also gave U.S. journalists in
Pakistan three days to leave the country or risk being targeted.
The
emails have contained photographs, including some showing Pearl with his wrists
chained and a pistol pointed at his head.
A
police official said Mubarak Ali Gilani, leader of the radical Islamic group
Jamaat al-Fuqra, who had been brought to Karachi for interrogation on Wednesday,
was still be grilled.
Shah
reiterated that Mr. Pear who had been the guest of an American-national Indian
journalist in Pakistan, had not been kidnapped. Instead, he said, he had been
detained illegally.
Investigators
have said Pearl, who is based in Bombay, met Gilani before he disappeared and
police have detained and questioned a number of people close to the religious
leader and his group.
|
