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Investigators: Pearl Knew Too Much
Sunday, February 17, 2002
United Press International

Reported by Anwar Iqbal in Washington, with contributing reports from Shahid Iqbal in Karachi & Aamir Shah in Islamabad



"It was a great meeting. We ordered cold coffee and club sandwiches and had great chit chat," one Pakistani newspaper quoted Shaikh Omar, the main suspect in Pearl's abduction, as telling interrogators. "We had nothing personal against Daniel."

KARACHI, Pakistan -- UPI
Missing American journalist Daniel Pearl might have been kidnapped because he knew enough to get his would-be kidnappers in trouble, investigators told United Press International Sunday.

"He was abducted to stop him from knowing more," said one Pakistani investigator when contacted by UPI.

Based on the information they have collected since Jan. 23, when Pearl was kidnapped from outside a restaurant in Karachi, investigators have pieced together a theory about Pearl's disappearance.

The Wall Street Journal reporter, they say, was working on links between stray operators, like the alleged shoe-bomber Richard Reid, and al Qaida and Taliban organizations.

He also had collected some information about the alleged terrorist cells in Europe and North America, which received instructions from al Qaida and Taliban bosses in Afghanistan.

One such cell, nicknamed "Islamburg," operates in the United States and is linked to Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, a religious leader Pearl was trying to interview when kidnapped.

Since he also was probing possible links between Pakistan's military intelligence organization, ISI, and various terrorist cells operated from Afghanistan, he stayed away from Pakistani officials.

"This means, he kept his activities in Pakistan secret. So when we started looking for him, we did not know where to look for the missing reporter," said a senior Pakistani official who visited Washington last week with President Pervez Musharraf.
(More: The Washington Times News Source)
2002 © United Press International.

Dan