rediff.com News
      HOME | US EDITION | REPORT
January 28, 2002
2220 IST

 US city pages

  - Atlanta
  - Boston
  - Chicago
  - DC Area
  - Houston
  - Jersey Area
  - Los Angeles
  - New York
  - SF Bay Area


 US yellow pages

 Archives

 - Earlier editions 

 Channels

 - Astrology 
 - Cricket
 - Money
 - Movies
 - Women 
 - India News
 - US News

  Call India
   Republic Day Spl
   Direct Service

 • Save upto 60% over
    AT&T, MCI
 • Rates 26.9¢/min
   Select Cities



   Prepaid Cards

 • Delhi 22¢/min
 • Mumbai 22¢/min
 • Other Cities



 India Abroad
Weekly Newspaper

  In-depth news

  Community Focus

  16 Page Magazine
For 4 free issues
Click here!
 Search the Internet
         Tips
 Links: Terror in America
E-Mail this report to a friend
Print this page Best Printed on  HP Laserjets

Pakistani group claims to hold WSJ reporter captive

A little-known Pakistani terrorist group, the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, has claimed holding a Wall Street Journal reporter captive.

The WSJ reported on its Web site that the group had sent this information by email, accusing the reporter, Daniel Pearl, of being a Central Intelligence Agency officer.

The email was accompanied by four photographs of Pearl, one of which showed a man holding a gun to his head, and demanded better treatment for fighters of the Al Qaeda and Taliban being held by the United States at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Police sources said they believe that the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had abducted Pearl.

A number of HuM fighters were believed to have been killed in the war waged by the US-led coalition against the Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pearl, 38, is a reporter based in Mumbai. He has been missing since Wednesday, when he went to visit a source near Karachi, the paper said.

Steven Goldstein, Vice President of Dow Jones & Co, which owns the WSJ, said the newspaper did not have any contact with the group that claims to hold Pearl. He, however, said that the photographs appear to be legitimate.

The newspaper and the CIA denied that Pearl was a spy posing as a reporter.

CIA spokeswoman Anya Guilsher told a news agency: "Although we don't normally discuss such matters, Daniel Pearl... has not ever worked with the CIA."

The journal quoted the email as saying that Pearl was being held in "very inhuman conditions" quite similar, in fact, to the way Pakistanis and nationals of other sovereign countries were being kept in Cuba by the US.

"If the Americans keep our countrymen in better conditions, then we will better the conditions of Pearl and all the other Americans that we capture," the email said.

Goldstein said that the group was wrong in assuming that the newspaper group could change the policies of the US and Pakistan government. "As a private citizen employed by an independent newspaper, neither Pearl nor we can change the policies of the US or Pakistan," Goldstein said.

The email said that Pakistanis being held at Guantanamo Bay must be given access to lawyers and their families, and they must be returned to Pakistan. It also called for the release of Afghanistan's former ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salaam Zaeef.

America's War on Terror: The Complete Coverage
The Attack on US Cities: The Complete Coverage

The Terrorism Weblog: Latest Stories from Around the World

External Link:
For further coverage, please visit www.saja.org/roundupsept11.html

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report

ADVERTISEMENT      
NEWS | MONEY | SPORTS | MOVIES | CHAT | CRICKET | SEARCH
ASTROLOGY | CONTESTS | E-CARDS | NEWSLINKS | ROMANCE | WOMEN
SHOPPING | BOOKS | MUSIC | PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL| MESSENGER | FEEDBACK