President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan ordered security forces yesterday to apprehend "each and every one of the gang of terrorists" involved in the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whose death at the hands of Islamic extremists has been confirmed by the US and Pakistan.
A video tape received by the US Consulate in the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday "contained scenes showing Mr. Pearl in captivity and scenes of his murder by the kidnappers," said Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh, interior minister of Sindh province, which includes Karachi.
The video tape was obtained by a Pakistani journalist who gave it to the US Consulate on Thursday, a senior Pakistani official said on condition of anonymity.
Sheikh said instructions had gone out to all investigation teams "to apprehend the remaining culprits" as quickly as possible.
Pearl's body has not been found and no details were immediately available on exactly where or when he was killed.
The 38-year-old journalist was kidnapped Jan. 23 while researching links between Pakistani extremists and Richard Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber" arrested in December on a Paris-Miami flight he allegedly boarded with explosives in his sneakers. A US federal grand jury in Boston has indicted Reid on terrorism charges.
Pakistani authorities had been maintaining for weeks that they were close to solving the case. Yet there was little sign that they were on the verge of apprehending the remaining suspects.
Security forces will now be able to proceed more vigorously than before because there's no longer a need for extreme caution to protect Pearl's life, said an investigator who spoke on condition of anonymity. He did not elaborate, except to say the investigation is now focusing on finding three suspects believed to be the ones who actually held and killed Pearl.
Four people have been arrested and charged in the case. They include the alleged mastermind, British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and three men accused of sending e-mails to news organizations announcing Pearl's kidnapping.
On Thursday, one of the jailed suspects, Fahad Naseem, said before a Karachi magistrate that Saeed told him two days before the kidnapping that he was going to seize someone who is "anti-Islam and a Jew."
The kidnappers sent an e-mail Jan. 30 accusing Pearl of being a spy for the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad. The Journal denied the allegation.
Musharraf expressed his "profound grief" over the killing and ordered security forces "to apprehend each and every member of the gang of terrorists involved in this gruesome murder."
A statement released by Mush-arraf's office said the president "would stay the course to ensure that his country and indeed this world is free of terror."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement offering Pakistan's "profound condolences" to Pearl's widow and other members of his family.
"The murderers of Daniel Pearl are dangerous criminals devoid of all humanity and their barbaric act is a crime against Pakistan and an outrage against the cherished values of our society," the statement said.
Pakistani analysts believe the kidnapping was staged to strike back at Musharraf for his support for the US-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan and for his crackdown last month against Islamic extremists in Pakistan.
Saeed, who was arrested last week, admitted his role in the kidnapping during a court appearance Feb. 14. Saeed told the judge that he did not know Pearl's whereabouts but believed the journalist was dead.
Police said it was unclear when Pearl was slain.
Since Saeed's arrest, the focus of the investigation has shifted to Amjad Faruqi, who is believed to have carried out the kidnapping.
Police suspect that Faruqi -- known to Pearl by the name Imtiaz Siddiqi -- placed two calls to the journalist on the night he disappeared, apparently making Pearl think a meeting was being set up with a senior Islamic militant.
A Karachi businessman involved in the investigation, Jamil Yousuf, said he met Pearl shortly before he disappeared. Pearl received the two calls from Faruqi during a meeting at Yousuf's office, and told the businessman he was going to meet his contact at the Village Restaurant in Karachi. Restaurant employees told police they did not recall seeing Pearl that night.
Faruqi is believed to be a member of Harkat ul-Mujahedeen, a banned Islamic extremist group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Harkat ul-Mujahedeen is active in the struggle against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir.
Last week, Pakistan's interior minister, Moinuddin Haider, promised a major break in the case in the next 48 hours. The following day, police raided Faruqi's home village in eastern Punjab province but found no trace of the suspect. They detained Faruqi's two brothers and three other villagers briefly.
Police have mentioned the names of about 10 other suspects. They include Hashim Qadeer, whom Pearl knew as Arif. His family claims, however, that he was killed in Afghanistan.
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