Islamabad, February 10
The Pakistani police has made two more arrests in the search for kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl but the alleged mastermind, British-born Islamic extremist Sheikh Omar, remained at large today.Islamabad police Senior Superintendent Nasir Khan Durrani said the two men were rounded up in the capital in recent days, bringing to around 16 the number of persons arrested since Pearl went missing on January 23.
“They have been detained for verification of some reports,” he told AFP. “The arrests relate to some phone calls they made from a mobile telephone set.” The police laid its first charges in the case on Friday, when they booked three men who have admitted to sending e-mails containing threats to kill Pearl and photos showing him in chains with a gun at his head. But they have failed to locate four chief suspects, including Omar.
Omar is said to be a leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which is banned in Pakistan and listed as a terrorist organisation in the USA. The group has denied any role in the kidnapping.
A US embassy spokesman would not comment on the case yesterday, saying only that Federal Bureau of Investigations agents were “continuing and we’re working closely with Pakistani authorities.”
The three men charged included a former Pakistani police intelligence officer and two cousins said to be members of the outlawed extremist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad. They told the police after three days of “intense interrogation” that they were ordered by Omar to send the e-mails.
Meanwhile, a Reuters report from Karachi said Pakistani and FBI investigators pressed on with their hunt for kidnapped Daniel pearl today, despite signs the trail was going cold and there was nothing but silence from the kidnappers.
The police said they had now had no contact with Pearl’s kidnappers for 11 days, and have not announced any significant breakthroughs since three suspects were detained in the southern city of Karachi on
Tuesday.
Despite Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf blaming India for the kidnapping of US journalist Daniel Pearl, the police officials in Karachi have expressed serious doubts over the allegation.
According to ‘The News’ daily, police investigators, with the help of the FBI, had established that the three Indian telephone numbers called from the cell phone that was used to lure Pearl to a Karachi restaurant, were of an Indian Cabinet minister and two Members of Parliament in New Delhi.
But, it was later found that the Indian telephone numbers were listed on an Indian website and it appeared that the calls to New Delhi were made to deceive the investigators, the newspaper said.
Agencies
