<

Pakistani Police Charge Three Men in Kidnapping of American Reporter
Saturday, February 9, 2002
The Associated Press

Daniel Pearl's fate remains uncertain.
Photo Credit: Dynamic Images.

“We are extremely hopeful,” Musharraf told reporters Friday at a press conference with visiting Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. “We are getting near. We've got some key personalities, and I very much hope that we get to him and we get him freed soon.”

Karachi, Pakistan -- AP
Police charged three men in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, officials said Friday, and Pakistan's president said he was hopeful the journalist would be freed soon.

The three suspects, one of whom is a member of the police special branch, were arrested last weekend after e-mails claiming responsibility for the kidnapping were traced to them, police Inspector Kamal Shah said.

Shah said they will appear in court Monday. Under Pakistani law, the judge can either set a trial date, hold them for further investigation or free them.

The 38-year-old reporter, the Journal's South Asian bureau chief, was abducted Jan. 23 en route to a meeting in Karachi with Muslim extremist contacts. He was believed to be investigating links between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, a Briton arrested on a Paris-to-Miami flight in December with explosives in his shoes.

The three men charged were identified as Farhad Naseem, Sheikh Mohammed Adeel, a constable with the police department's special branch, and Salman Saqib.
(More: TheDay.com News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan