KARACHI (voa) – An e-mail sent to Pakistani and Western news organizations has extended the deadline for killing kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl by one day.
The unsigned e-mail was received hours after a top Wall Street Journal editor issued a second appeal, asking the kidnappers to spare the reporter’s life. Mr. Pearl was kidnapped last week in Karachi, Pakistan while preparing to interview the head of a Muslim militant organization in the port city.
The latest appeal on behalf of Mr. Pearl comes after an e-mail sent to Western news organizations Wednesday described the reporter as an Israeli spy who would be killed within 24 hours. The kidnappers have identified themselves as members of a previously unknown Islamic militant group. They are demanding the United States release Pakistanis captured in Afghanistan during the war against terrorism. U.S. and Pakistani officials say they are taking the abduction and the death threat seriously.
Authorities believe the death threats are authentic because they included pictures of Mr. Pearl shackled, with a gun held to his head by an unidentified person. The captors have also warned all American journalists to leave Pakistan by Saturday, saying there are many spies in Pakistan working under the guise of reporters.
The U.S. State Department is urging Americans in Pakistan to continue exercising extreme caution. Meanwhile, a Pakistani government spokesman says there is an Indian link to the kidnapping. But the spokesman declined to elaborate, saying that the matter is under investigation.
Earlier, Pakistani police said a nationwide manhunt was under way to find Mr. Pearl. They said they were also questioning a Muslim cleric arrested Wednesday in connection with the kidnapping. The cleric, Mubarak Ali Gilani, is said to have links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
