Bus Carrying Pearl Kidnap Suspects Attacked
One Prisoner, One Guard Killed
POSTED: 4:06 p.m. EST February 28, 2002
UPDATED: 4:19 p.m. EST February 28, 2002
Police in Karachi, Pakistan, say they've thwarted an attempt to free a busload of prisoners.
They said gunmen ambushed a police bus carrying prisoners arrested in a crackdown on Muslim militants. One police officer and one prisoner were killed but no prisoners escaped.
The prisoners were from three militant groups. One of the groups is suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The ambush followed a threat against police holding the suspected mastermind of the Pearl kidnapping, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.
Authorities said a caller threatened to blow up Karachi's crime investigation department if Saeed or two other suspects are sent to the United States.
Police tightened security around the building and moved Saeed to another jail.
Pearl, theWall Street Journal South Asia bureau chief was kidnapped Jan. 23 in Karachi.
Pearl was killed by Islamic extremists, according to U.S. officials. The FBI confirmed it had a videotape confirming Pearl was dead.
Four people have been arrested and charged in the case. They include the alleged mastermind, a British-born Islamic militant.
Pearl's wife, Mariane, is seven months pregnant with the couple's first child. A freelance journalist, she had worked with him in Pakistan.
Daniel Pearl reported from the United States, Europe and Asia in a 12-year career with the financial daily. Based in Bombay, India, for the past year, Pearl was on assignment in Pakistan as part of its coverage of the war on terrorism.
The Princeton, N.J., native had worked in western Massachusetts before joining the Journal in Atlanta in 1990. He later reported from Washington, London and Paris -- where he wrote about the Middle East -- before moving to Asia. |
