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Wall Street Journal Editor Wants Talk With Kidnappers
Monday, February 4, 2002
(10:46 PM ET)
By Afzal Nadeem
Associated Press Writer

"We are hopeful that Daniel Pearl is alive," said the minister, Moinuddin Haider, who is responsible for law and order in Pakistan. "I can't claim of making any breakthrough though we are getting close to the men involved."

KARACHI, Pakistan -- AP
After a series of hoax e-mails, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal issued an open letter Monday to the group he believes responsible for the kidnapping of reporter Daniel Pearl, asking for a private dialogue to "address your concerns."

Pearl's wife, meanwhile, issued an impassioned appeal for his life and said she was willing to die in his place.

Paul Steiger, the Journal managing editor, addressed the letter to the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty.

That organization signed the first e-mail sent on Jan. 27 claiming to have abducted Pearl who disappeared four days earlier. Attached to that claim were photographs of the journalist -- one with a gun pointed at his head, another with Pearl holding a newspaper of dated Jan. 27.

That communication demanded that Washington return Pakistani prisoners held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for trial in Pakistan. The Bush administration has ruled out any negotiations.

"I know that the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty is very serious and wants others to know about its movement. To assure that this happens it is important for you to respond to this message," Steiger's letter said.
(More: The Orlando Sentinel News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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